The Crux Guild made its debut at the IPCPR Show in New Orleans, La., in 2015. The blend uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. Like all other Crux cigars, the Crux Guild is rolled at Plasencia Cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua.
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 cigar comes in five vitolas: 5.5 x 42 Corona $6.99 single $139.80 box, 5 x 50 Robusto $7.99 single $159.80 box, 5.25 x 54 Robusto Extra $9.50 single $190.00 box, 6 x 50 Toro $8.99 single $179.80 box, and 6.5 x 52 Toro Extra Marblehead (Box Pressed) $9.99 single $199.80 for a box. All come in boxes of 20.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro Length: 6″ Ring Gauge: 50 Country of Origin: Nicaragua Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Binder: Nicaragua Filler: Nicaragua Factory: Plasencia S.A. Blender:Jeff Haugen and Joel Rogers Number of reviewers: 4 – Jason H.(Jokey Smurf) Kevin J. (maninblack77) Isaac M.(The Nothing) Daniel S. (Daniel S.) Price: $8.99 Age: 8 Months Release Date: May 2016 Contributed by: Crux Cigars
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 90
“This is a sharp looking cigar that is sporting a light brown somewhat mottled wrapper leaf. The wrapper is slightly toothy to the touch with a bit of oil glistening in the light.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
Aroma: 90
“Aromas were reminiscent of a deciduous forest, earthy and leafy. I detected a bit of kitchen spice at the foot.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
“A nice fuller bodied opening to this cigar… Plenty of spicy pepper and earthy leather notes. The smoke output is heavy and had plenty of oil which helps the flavors linger between puffs.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“This cigar jumped right into things with flavors of rich oak and kitchen spices. It was savory and meaty. In fact my notes say “holy delicious!” The flavors were full and wafted around my palate with each puff. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Second Third
Flavor: 90 Strength: Medium-Strong Body/Complexity: Medium
Blind Cigar Review: Crux | Guild Toro
“Still predominantly pepper and leather with hints of sweetness from time to time. Through the noise the thick smoke is heavy with pepper and makes it though to retrihale every puff.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“The kitchen spices toned down in the second third, but there was still a great amount of meaty savoriness. The savory notes were accompanied by indiscernible wood flavors white the retrohale produced what seemed to be mesquite. All of this combined to make it seem like I was smoking bbq.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Final Third
Flavor: 90 Strength: Medium Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Finally a transition to a more white pepper spice in the final third with a kick up in intensity. Mild to medium last third. If this cigar had started this way, I think it would have been more enjoyable. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“The final portion of this cigar smoothed out with the pepper fading a bit and the leather becoming the primary flavor.
Blind Cigar Review: Crux | Guild Toro
Additionally I’m starting to pick up a nice coffee note. Through the noise the smoke has mellowed and I’m retrohaling every puff.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 94
“The draw was one of the highlights of this cigar. It had the perfect amount of resistance.” –Daniel S. (Daniel S.)
Burn: 89
“The burn was good and the cigar didn’t need any touch ups at all. The cigar had a razor thin burn line.” –Daniel S. (Daniel S.)
Construction: 91
“This is one of those cigars that looked nice and performed well to boot. The burn and draw are both excellent and the ash was strong. ” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“A nice fuller bodied cigar that pleased me on many levels. All in all it was a great way to spend ninety minutes. I’ll gladly smoke another of these.” –Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
“As a fan of maduros and stronger cigars, this was a good cigar with the potential to be very good. Started off very mild and continued this trend to the final third. If it had started off the way the final 3rd tasted, it potentially would have scored higher. Not a bad cigar but didn’t hold my interest for very long. ” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“This is a delicious cigar. I can’t say more than get some! It really hit all the points for me with the flavor and body that I was more than happy with. ” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
“At first glance I had high expectations of this cigar but it did not take long to be disappointed. I was okay with the one not of black pepper but once it started having an oily bitter flavor the cigar I started to lose interest in the cigar.” –Daniel S. (Daniel S.)
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
Blind Cigar Review: Crux | Guild Toro
Overall Score – 90 – Very Good
Blind Cigar Review: Crux | Guild Toro
Summary
"A nice fuller bodied cigar that pleased me on many levels. All in all it was a great way to spend ninety minutes. I'll gladly smoke another of these." -Jason H. (Jokey Smurf)
