Vitola: Toro
Size 5.875” x 52 ring gauge
Price $9.99
Purchased at Maxamar’s
Background
This cigar was released at the the 2013 IPCPR show and was only available to the retailers that placed orders at the show. These cigars are a limited production however I can’t really find out what that means as far as total numbers. The cigar is comprised of Nicaraguan fillers and binder with a Nicaraguan sungrown Criollo wrapper from 1998. The cigars come packed 20 to a box. I smoked two previous cigars to the one I smoked for for review.
Prelight
The colors of this cigar, the wrapper and band, really compliment each other well. The wrapper was very oily when I took it out of the cellophane. The wrapper was a medium-dark brown with some almost black mottling to it. There weren’t that many veins either. When I gave it a squeeze I couldn’t find any soft spots and it was fairly firm. Putting my nose to the wrapper I noted the faint aroma of leather with a heavy leather and roasted nut aroma coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I god a good draw with the flavors of peanuts with a hint of sweetness.
Flavor
The cigar started off with a good amount of spice on the retrohale and tip of the tongue. This did mellow out long before the first third was completed. The flavors I noted in the first third were of leather, nuts, earth and wood, with a slightly sweet finish to it. I did get some notes of cinnamon and ginger beer as well. The final two thirds were pretty much the same as the first third in regards to flavor. I wasn’t bored by it but I remember there being more change in the other two cigars I smoked. The spice did start to come back in the final third and the cigar built to the upper end of medium by the final third.
Construction
The draw was pretty good throughout. I was able to get a good amount of smoke from every draw. The burn started to get pretty uneven and I needed to correct it with a lighter when I started the second third.
Value
I think that this cigar is priced right. It is not that much more expensive than the regular L’Atelier releases, if at all.
Conclusions
Overall I really enjoyed the cigar. I do think that the Lat46 released last year is still my favorite, but this is a close second. Since this cigar didn’t get out of the medium range most people should be able to enjoy this cigar. I would recommend picking up some if you come across them.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
This article first appeared at Tiki Bar Online
