Vitola: Toro- Received as part of 2021 SnS Member Kit
Background
This entry puts us about halfway through this collection of the Saints and Sinners 2021 Member Pack. If you haven’t looked in at the previous entries, I encourage you to do so.
Every year for a decade-plus now, Pete Johnson and his crew at Tatuaje and the associated brands put together a flight of cigars meant only for members of the Saints and Sinners Club. Membership is limited to an unknown number, but basically you can’t become a member unless a current members invites you. Each current member is allowed one invitation per sign-up session. If the invitee doesn’t respond in the allotted time frame, their invitation goes up in smoke. If a current member doesn’t pay up in the renewal period, their membership disappears and they can’t get it back without getting a new invitation.
Notes
Last week I ended up wondering if the wrapper on the SnS 2021 #2 could be a Connecticut Broadleaf Rosado…the same type of leaf used on the Tatuaje Monster Series “The Bride” release. This SnS 2021 #3 looks very much like the Maduro version of that same leaf…and the wrapper type that is still my favorite. It was medium-dark brown with plentiful oils and a heavy earthy aroma with hint of sweetness and cocoa powder mixed in. Even with the oils, it had a slightly gritty sandpaper feel to the leaf, as well, which you often find on a Broadleaf Maduro.
I fired up the cigar and got a mix of earth and cedar, with plenty of black pepper, espresso, and cocoa powder…and just a little sweetness. I paired this cigar with a new-to-me bourbon called Smoke Wagon, made in Las Vegas, Nevada. It weighs in at 46.25% ABV (92.5 proof) and I got the last of what apparently were Halloween bottle at a local liquor store…so not the quickest selling dram in these parts. A full review of said whiskey will be forthcoming.
Without looking up the mash bill, I thought the whiskey might have a slightly lower-than-average corn content because it just wasn’t as sweet as many bourbons I’m used to…much more woody. The cigar did seem to carry on with the basic tenets of a full-bodied Nicaraguan cigar, probably wrapped in a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro…in other words, it was excellent.
