Vitola: Robusto- 5” x 50 ring gauge
- MSRP $9.90
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
In June, Davidoff of Geneva announced the latest regular release addition to their Avo brand. It is an offshoot of last year’s regular release—the Syncro Nicaragua—this time called Syncro Nicaragua Fogata. The original Syncro Nicaragua established itself as the “first time” for a couple things in the Avo regular line-up. Specifically, it was the first regular production Avo to use Nicaraguan leaf and it was the first to be box-pressed. For this follow-up version, they would hold to only one of those things.
“Fogata” is Spanish for bonfire or campfire. It is said that one of Avo Uvezian’s favorite settings to share with his closest friends is around a campfire. The cigar was created in 4 popular sizes (well…3 popular sizes…I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “Short Torpedo” so I can’t say how popular it is) and uses Nicaraguan leaf from Estelí and Condega, as well as Dominican Yamasa Visus, Piloto and San Vicente Ligero as filler, a Mexican Negro San Andres binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano 2000 Clara wrapper. This significantly ups the ante of Nicaraguan leaf from the original Syncro, which only used a very small amount of Ometepe-grown leaf in the filler. It also was left as round in shape, rather than being box-pressed.
I smoked one of these before deciding to do the review on it. I bought both at Burns Tobacconist. Keith previously published a review of the Avo Syncro Nicaragua Fogata, which you can read HERE…I’m hoping to avoid the same construction pitfalls that befell Keith during his take on the cigar.
Prelight
I like what they did with the band colors on this stick. The orange and red-orange and deep red definitely evoke the “campfire” motif of the cigar and also help to differentiate this stick on the shelf…while the basic design is pretty much the same as the original Syncro Nicaragua, the colors stand out as far different. It’s a much better job than they did on say the Domaine and Heritage re-releases which appear almost identical on the shelf unless you can happen to see the boxes or if you actually take the cigars out of the box and turn them over to see the back of the band.
The toasted caramel color of the wrapper leaf looked quite a bit more than “claro” in coloration to me, but maybe for this leaf, this is considered claro. The leaf was oily in the light and under my fingers and had an aroma that mixed some hay with some barnyard notes. The foot had less aroma to me…mostly just an earthy note with a touch of grassiness in the background.
After cutting with my Xikar Xi straight cutter, I took a test draw and found it to be just about right. The cold flavor was a mix of earth, leather, citrus and a slight pepper burn.
Flavor
The opening salvos of flavor from the Avo Syncro Nicaragua Fogata were a mix of earth and leather up front on the palate. Shortly I picked up on woody notes and a touch of sweetness, as well, with a slightly peppery finish. Blowing the smoke out through my nose was an extremely peppery experience. The body was medium-plus, bordering on medium-to-full right from the outset, which was really strange and unexpected for an Avo. The marketing literature does state that this is the most full-bodied blend in that catalog and I believe it. The mix of Estelí and Piloto in the filler, along with the San Andres binder, surely had a lot to do with that. Oddly, the body waned a bit as I got deep into the first third, with the flavor profile getting more grassy hay notes with just a touch of orange and the earthier notes fading to the background. The pepper dissipated on the palate and was minimal on the nose at this point, with the retrohale hitting more citrus and nutty notes.
The second third was more or less dominated by the hay and citrus notes, with the body sitting around medium. There was earth still in the background but by the end of the third, I was getting no pepper at all from the blend.
The last third saw a return to a more full-bodied profile with earthy notes flooding in and taking over, followed closely by cedar, while the citrus and hay notes faded quickly to an afterthought.
Construction
I had a very good draw, solid ash and fairly even burn line through. But I also had the same issue that Keith noted with the over-application of glue when applying the band and the subsequent ripping of a big chunk of wrapper off the cigar when I removed the band.
Value
I liked this cigar and the pricing is right in line with other Avo releases, so I’d call it good value for me.
Conclusions
The Syncro Nicaragua Fogata succeeds in being the most full-bodied release in the Avo catalog…mostly. The middle third was more medium-bodied and odd considering how the cigar started and finished. Overall I like it, but can’t say that I loved it like I do the original Syncro Nicaragua release. Simply put, for me it doesn’t “synchronize” the Nicaraguan and Dominican leaf nearly as well as the first installment in the series. While it is an enjoyable cigar, it just doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the Avo catalog very well. And I did encounter the same over-gluing problem that Keith did, although not to the same extent. In the end it ended up getting the same overall rating from me that it did from him.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10
