Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Flor de Gonzalez
Blender: Arnaldo Gonzalez
Number of reviewers: 4 —– Brian (B-daddy) Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn) Milton (mjohnsoniii) Robert (NavyPiper)
Price: $5.70
Age: 4 Months
Release Date: July 2013
Contributed by: Flor de Gonzalez Cigars
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.
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 90
“There was a beautiful leather brown color in this cigar. There were numerous little veins branching off of one large one along with some tooth.” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)
Aroma: 89
“Pepper came from the foot with a hint of coffee. The cold draw was a little tight, but I could faintly taste cocoa.” –Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)
Construction: 89
“Pretty firm throughout. One noticeable hard spot where a stem is poking a bump into the wrapper. As stated before the wrapping and capping seem pretty tight and neat.” –Brian (B-daddy)
First Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“At the light, I get an initial taste of semi-sweet chocolate paired with leather. It’s a little rough/harsh. Flavors transition to a salty meatiness on the draw. There’s a woodiness, almost a campfire wood smoke note on the finish. ” –Brian (B-daddy)
“A bold beefy kickoff for this stogie! Bold tobacco, wood and a little spice. A really nice flavor, there be meat in this here third- flavor you can chew on, like it a lot!” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Second Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The smoke definitely picked up in the second third. It’s begun billowing and is rather creamy. Delicious. This one still has a very spicy profile. Almost like a combination of cayenne and ginger. They were especially prominent during the retrohale where I kinda felt like Barbara Eden in “I Dream of Jeannie” (the old farts know what I’m talking about) by the way my nose constantly twitched. Strong coffee notes were also present. The flavors in the second third were pretty good and complimented each other well.” –Milton (mjohnsoniii)
“The pepper seems to have faded out, but a good strong flavor of the tobacco here with the wood and spice. Has a sort of ‘tangy’ bite to it. Very solid, straight up, ‘in your face’ flavor! Bold, but not overpowering, great third!” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Final Third
Flavor: 87
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Light-Medium
“The spice has died down a bit. There’s still light hints of ginger with some rawhide, espresso and dark chocolate playing a significant role as well. The final third was, by far, the best this cigar had to offer. More flavors being added to the mix made this one fairly more complex and enjoyable. The smoke still billowed until it’s end.” –Milton (mjohnsoniii)
“Pepper has returned in this third, and is about equal to the tobacco and wood. A nice flavor combo and gives a nice burn on the retrohale.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 94
“It offered a resistance that, in my opinion, was perfect from beginning to end.” –Milton (mjohnsoniii)
Burn: 90
“No problems with the burn at any time in the stick. Was fine, occasionally a tiny wave but always corrected.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Overall Experience: 89
“This cigar was pretty one noted and not a particularly appealing note at that. It just couldn’t shake that harsh burnt wood flavor, which dominated the profile for a good portion of it. I’ll pass on these.” –Brian (B-daddy)
“Not the best I’ve had but definitely not the worst. It provided me with almost two hours of smoking enjoyment that I could see myself with while learning the game of golf (emphasis on “learning”).” –Milton (mjohnsoniii)
“Unfortunately, I had to rate this cigar very low for the draw issues I had with it. You essentially shouldn’t count my part of the review in your decision: to smoke or not to smoke.”-Cindy (Ms_CindyLynn)
“This was a VERY enjoyable stogie. I liked it a lot. Flavors, burn, draw, everything was very enjoyable and I had no gripes with anything in this sample.” –Robert (NavyPiper)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 72
Total Score: 89 (Good)
| Reviewer | Appea- rance |
Aroma | Constr. | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian | 88 | 87 | 89 | 87 | 86 | 80 | 90 | 84 | 83 |
| Cindy | 96 | 90 | 88 | 75 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Milton | 90 | 88 | 95 | 89 | 89 | 90 | 98 | 93 | 90 |
| Robert | 91 | 90 | 91 | 93 | 93 | 92 | 93 | 92 | 93 |
| Overall | 90 | 89 | 89 | 90 | 89 | 87 | 94 | 90 | 89 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.