Macanudo Gold Label Duke of York (5.25×54)

Most Connecticut Shade wrappers come from the middle of the plant — but the Gold Label isn’t most cigars. Macanudo selects only the first and second primings for this line, the lowest leaves on the stalk, the ones that receive the least direct sunlight and therefore retain the most natural sugar of any leaf on the plant. The result is the “Capa Especial” — a golden, tissue-thin wrapper with barely visible veins, a silky texture unlike anything else in the Macanudo lineup, and a natural sweetness that simply cannot be replicated with leaves from higher on the plant.

In the Duke of York, that extraordinary wrapper is paired with a Mexican San Andrés binder and a filler of Dominican Piloto Cubano and Mexican tobaccos, all handcrafted in the Dominican Republic into a 5.25×54 that burns slow, draws effortlessly, and delivers cedar, toasted nuts, cream, vanilla, and a clean lemony sweetness on the finish that is unmistakably Gold Label. Released annually in limited quantities. The smoothest cigar in the Macanudo family, and one of the most elegant mild smokes made anywhere in the world.