Cigar Info
The Nica Puro line debuted in 2013 and used all Nicaraguan tobacco. It was geared to be a more affordable line compared to some of their more premium offerings. In 2015, they added a Rosado version of the line comprised of a golden rosado Colorado wrapper, double Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Condega, Estelí and Jalapa.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado was made in 6 sizes: Bajito (4 1/4 x 50), Churchill (7 x 50), Gordo (6 1/4 x 60), Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52) and Torpedo (6 1/4 x 54). All came in 20-count boxes. The entire Nica Puro line was discontinued in 2021, and the company has since sold to STG (General Cigar’s parent company), but we thought it would be interesting to see how this cigar is currently smoking with so much age on it.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Rosado Colorado
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Raices Cubanas
Blender: Alan Rubin
Number of reviewers: 5 – Chad M. (Chad Tchad) Kevin J. (maninblack77) Lauren S. (Lauren S.) Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi) Bill C.(Bill)
Price: $9.00
Age: 8 Years
Release Date: 2015
Contributed by: Blind Man’s Puff
Initial Impressions – Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado Toro
Appearance: 91
“This is a beautiful classic toro that features a nice dark maduro wrapper. There are a couple of prominent veins but a perfectly smooth roll and cap application.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Aroma: 91
“The body of the cigar has a subtle sweetness to it but nothing obvious comes to mind. The foot has ripe citrus notes to it with a dash of white pepper. The cold draw has me thinking about Cinnamon Toast Crunch. ” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
First Third
Flavor: 91
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The strong sweet milk chocolate scent immediately came through in the flavor. There’s light a background note of earthiness and a strong baking spice hit on the retrohale. The draw is easy with a simple v-cut, but the ash is extremely flaky and will not hold much at all.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“Very sharp notes of flavor comes out in this cigar. A nice sweeter cedar type flavor with some notes of baking spices. Retrohale is a rich mineral and light black pepper.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
Second Third
Flavor: 91
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium
“The sweet red pepper flavor turns into a caramel sweetness and black pepper. Leather drops off and earth joins the fray. Burn is a mess through a lot of this third, but I’ll blame that on the crack, and I’m not sure if the crack was a manufacturing problem, a transit problem, or something I did – so I’ll go easy on it.” –Bill C. (Bill)
“There is a transition starting to happen as I get into the early parts of this third. In the retrohale a green vegetal note comes to the forefront. On the palate the profile has become very neutral. The salt note gets pushed into the background but nothing is really replacing it. As I reach the dying breaths of the third a light sweetness starts to jump out at me. The mouthfeel and finish have stayed the same.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
Final Third
Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Continues with a nice light sweet cedar and rich backing spice. Retrohale light cedar and amedium black pepper flavor.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
“Flavors intensify, sweetness drops off, and the burn is perfect throughout. Not really much here in the way of changes – everything just feels a little more focused and a little sharper. Miss the sweetness though.” –Bill C. (Bill)
Overall Impressions – Alec Bradley Nica Puro Rosado Toro
Draw: 91
“Draw started off way loose, but I attribute that to the crack on the seam.” –Bill C. (Bill)
Burn: 88
“Sadly the only bright note on this cigar. Fairly even burn line.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
Construction: 89
“Visually the construction looked amazing, but the ash never lasted more than half an inch and flaked away often. I ended up wearing it a couple of times. It also likely causing the need to relight the cigar twice.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Overall Strength: Mild-Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 91
“Very nice smoking cigar. Very light flavors with sweet cedar and baking spices. Stays consistent with this but through the cigar just build and lightens with these flavors. Retrohale is pretty solid with the middle of the cigar having strong cedar and black pepper.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
“I was truly hoping this cigar would be one of those cigars that may look ugly as sin but blows you away with its performance. Sadly it was ugly as sin and underperformed on a grand scale. Maybe I got a dud. I tried it with a fairly fresh palate. Hopefully others had a different experience than I did. I would not try this again.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“To me, the flavor profile was the classic expectation of a good maduro blend. Solid milk chocolate flavors that deepen as the cigar went on. A nice mineral earth backbone and some complexity with baking spice and in the second half a chili pepper kick. The only slight flaw with this stick was the uneven burn likely due to how loose and flakey the ash was which resulted in me wearing it a few times. I would revisit this blend and those who love chocolatey maduros featuring a slight kick. should give this one a go, maybe just smoke it over the ashtray.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“Until that last third I would have said that this was a fairly linear cigar with minimal transition. The last third saved it a little bit but I’m not sure most people would have stuck around for it. I would have been one of them. If you are a fan of a light, liner cigar this will be for you. I’ll be interested to see what this cigar is so I can give it another shot.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“I need to try another. The messy burn, which I’m assuming is due to the wrapper crack, didn’t give this cigar the fairest shake. However, it was still enjoyable and is something I would try again.” –Bill C. (Bill)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 79
| Reviewer | Appear. | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr | Overall Experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad M. | 85 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 90 | 85 | 88 | 88 |
| Kevin J. | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 90 | 92 | 80 | 80 |
| Lauren S. | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 100 | 87 | 88 | 95 |
| Estevan Z. | 92 | 90 | 88 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 88 | 88 |
| Bill C. | 92 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 95 | 87 | 92 | 92 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.