The Particulars

The Review

This review for the OZ Family Cigars Maracana - Gordo (Box Press) (6 x 60) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-07-31

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

The Maracana continues the visual theme that Oz established with the Karatoba, swapping the black and copper for green and brass, while retaining the box-pressed vitolas. The main difference is that while the Karatoba was an aggressive, candy-bar-shaped box press with sharp corners, the Maracana is softer, resulting in a square shape with smoother edges. I’m unsure why the box press shape is a little different when the bands and general appearance are so similar, but the Maracana and Karatoba definitely look great together side-by-side.

Visual continuity aside, the Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper is lovely. It’s a warm, medium brown, has a very good oily sheen to it, and features strong color variation with nice mottling. The handful of visible veins are pressed in, but that craggy, thick tooth is still highly visible and unaffected by the press. The seams are tight with a clean triple cap. Overall construction looks fantastic with a nice firmness and density.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Good (3)

The draw is spot-on and the burn starts with a little scorching of the wrapper that is quickly consumed. The ash is a very light gray with widely spaced and tight, nearly non-existent cracking. There are some oil crystals embedded in the ash, but you’ll need to really squint to see them. The burn line has a little wave to it, but it’s relatively flat and well-controlled. It’s not crisp, though; there’s maybe an 1/8 of an inch of the wrapper that chars before it burns off, giving it a look almost like a wide band of eyeliner.

At the end of the first third, the burn is beautiful—except for one corner. If I look at it from one side, it looks dead-flat. Turn the cigar over, and that corner is lagging by almost half an inch. But to its credit, the burn starts to self-correct and catch up. It never fully flattens out, but it improves, until it lags again, then improves, then lags… But at least it never gets bad enough to require a manual correction for canoeing. This continues right up to the midpoint where I gracefully rolled the ash off into the tray, corrected that lagging edge, and the burn stayed dead-flat after that.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Great (4)

Initial flavors start with rich oak, earth, and bits of black pepper. Next comes a mild sweetness that sits somewhere between dates and raisins, paired with bits of salted macadamia nuts. Last to join is dark chocolate with light floral notes. Everything is mild in initial intensity, but it starts to quickly ramp up by the end of the first inch. The black pepper is leaving a little harshness at the back of my throat and is beautifully complemented by a sweet red pepper on the lips and tongue. Pepper aside, the flavors are very smooth. It’s an interesting juxtaposition because I’m getting smooth, creamy, and savory notes right alongside that pepper burn.

Getting into the second third, the macadamia nut flavor is bringing a rich savoriness that’s cut perfectly by the red and black pepper combination. Bits of black coffee—more like a nice Caffé Americano—start to play into the mix while the sweetness recedes a little. The macadamia nuts are the absolute star of the profile, resting heavily on that oaky, earthy base. This is a really linear blend, though; there are no real changes or major transitions. The flavors just build into the final third, but they don’t actively shift. The final flavor mix is red and black pepper, macadamia nuts, dark chocolate, black coffee, oak, earth, light floral notes, and a mild date sweetness, all carrying a moderate creaminess that’s very rich and smooth, but sharply accented by the pepper burn.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Great (4)

This is a very nice blend. It’s not mind-blowing, but it’s solid and quite enjoyable for what it is. On its own, it’s one I enjoyed but might not have explicitly searched out. But it offers a really nice complementary profile to the Karatoba, making them a fantastic pair. So yeah, it hits the back of the net but it isn’t going to be the most memorable goal scored during the game.

I’ll have to smoke the CAO Brazilia again to see how it compares, as the Maracana was directly influenced by it. Maybe I’ll do a future side-by-side, though I’m sure the glory days of the Brazilia are far past since it’s now just one of many in the massive portfolio of a large conglomerate. But if you loved the old Brazilia, definitely check out the Maracana and see if it sparks some nostalgia—or even better, inspires the creation of new memories.

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.