Cigar Review: Charlie Toraño Captiva

Product: Charlie Toraño Captiva
Size: BFC (Gordo; 6×60)
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $10.74 at my local B&M; $160.99 per box of 20 at Cigars International

It’s always fun to find new cigars to smoke. Walking through the humidor of my nearest B&M, I came upon the Charlie Toraño Captiva. As a big fan of most cigars from Toraño, especially the Exodus 1959 50 Years and the value-priced Toraño Dominico, I was more than happy to give this one a shot. The backstory on the cigar is thus:

Named for a small island off the coast of Florida where Charlie Toraño vacations, the new Charlie Toraño Captiva seeks to encompass the same feeling of relaxation that the island of Captiva represents to Charlie. Plus, despite his reign as Toraño President for nearly a decade, it’s the first Toraño release bearing Charlie’s name.

Let’s find out if it can bring me feels of relaxation while smoking it shall we?

You can see it in the photo above there was a tiny hole in the wrapper of the cigar. It appeared to only be in that one leaf and didn’t penetrate any further. The only pre-light notes that I could detect were wood but it was faint. Nothing else stood out nor did I encounter any other issues with the cigar pre-light. After the punch and light, the cigar started me with an open draw and opening notes of spice and black coffee. This is a great example of a medium bodied start that is smooth to the palette. While the spice was the predominant flavor at the start, it only stayed into the forefront for about 15 minutes. Flavors stayed that way until almost the midpoint of the cigar, when mocha flavors came into the foreground. In addition, the strength of the cigar crept into the medium-to-full bodied range. Near the last quarter of the cigar, the mocha notes grew even more to finish out the cigar. Total smoking time was 1:30.

Besides a couple relights of the cigar and one burn correction, the Charlie Toraño Captiva was trouble-free.

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 0.5/1
Total: 8.5/10

To recap the Charlie Toraño Captiva:

• I enjoyed this cigar and minus the couple issues with the cigar (wrapper hole, relights, burn correction), it would have gotten a higher score.
• While at first glance this cigar would appear to be full bodied, it is a nice example of a medium bodied cigar with a pleasant flavor profile.
• Is the cigar worth $10.74 a stick? Arguable. Better deals are to be found online if you search a little bit. The downgrade in value was from IL tobacco taxes and would encourage purchase online.
• I will have to keep these in mind the next time I need to restock the humidor. I would encourage anyone to give these a shot as I think all levels of cigar smoker could enjoy this.

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you. Please have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend.