General Cigar Co. showed off the Hoyo La Amistad Silver, a new three-size line folliwing up lst years’s the Hoyo La Amistad which earned a 91 in our blind review. The La Amistad Silver uses an Ecuadorian habano wrapper and fillers from Fernández’s farms in Condega and Estelí, 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 three sizes. Robusto (5 x 50) — $6.99 (Boxes of 20, ($139.80), Pancho (5 1/2 x 52) — $7.49 (Boxes of 20, $149.80), Churchill (6 7/8 x 48) — $7.99 (Boxes of 20, $159.80). They began shipping in mid-August.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Cuban-seed (Habano) Nicaraguan from Fernandez farms in Estelí and Condega
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez
Blender: AJ Fernandez
Number of reviewers: 5 – Steve (ThaGreatWazoo) Ryan H.(Ryan H.) John I. (John I.) Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd) Zane G. (Zane)
Price: $7.00
Age: 3 Months
Release Date: August 2017
Contributed by: General Cigar
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 90
“This was a nice looking cigar. Very smooth lines and a nice rich looking wrapper. The feel was superb in the hand and felt ready to smoke as soon as I grabbed it. ” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
Aroma: 86
“The aroma was very musty off of the foot. The wrapper had a slight hint of cedar, but very muted. The cold draw was however smooth and had a nice amount of spice and wood. Very clean on the cold draw and is trying to make up for the bitter aromas.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“It starts out more gently that I was expecting. There are some pepper elements, but they are more subdued. I get some dark coffee hints, and a nice sweetness from aged tobacco. The retrohale is bold, but not harsh, with something that reminds me of black tea. ” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
“The first third starts out with a blast of pepper and a deep musty earthiness. No pepper through the retro but it is bold. Getting a sweet raisin.” –Zane G. (Zane)
“There is an esspresso note left on the palete that stays with you for some time but mostly earthy with some wood and nut fairly complex cigar.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“Into the second third, the flavor remains consistently good if not mind altering. Deep core flavors of wood/pepper/espresso dominate. Slowing down and keeping this nice and cool has eliminated any of the unpleasant funkiness. (Bad funky, not good funky.) Just beyond the mid point there is a notable transition into sharper more citrusy flavor notes. Peppery flavor remain, but it’s all gotten a lot brighter.” –John I. (John I.)
“I would say definately medium plus very close to full. Burn has required no corrections. Draw is acceptable but a little more tight then i would like. Definatley more pronounced coffee/espresso notes in the last third.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“At the start of the finale, the bright, crisp flavors have faded and there is a serious return to dark chocolate and coffee town. Looks like the best may be yet to come. So far I’m enjoying this portion of the cigar much more than earlier phases.” –John I. (John I.)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 93
“The draw was really great. Tons of smoke output, and just the right airflow.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
Burn: 94
“Solid, total clichéd “razor sharp burn,” “stacking dimes,” for the whole show.” –John I. (John I.)
Construction: 92
“Truly well crafted on all fronts. This initially felt like a really solid product, and it performed flawlessly.” –John I. (John I.)
“This cigar just fell short for me in a lot of areas. The muted flavors had me wondering if some rest would have been better suited prior to burning it. Maybe with a few months of downtime, the flavors would have come through a little more, but during the smoke I could not get much from it that kept me wanting to continue. The strength picked up throughout and by the end, I was really wishing I had eaten prior to it. Hopefully, my fellow reviewers had a better experience with this cigar, but I was not thrilled.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)
“A very good experience over all. Would love to smoke this cigar again.” –Ryan H. (Ryan H.)
“I had to mark this down a peg or so based on the immature flavors that crept in at a couple points. Aside from these issues, the primary flavors were wonderful, there were some interesting transitional phases, and as noted, the construction was really impressive. This is a potentially great cigar, but I think they need some age to mitigate the funkiness (bad funky.) If this smoothes out this will really be something impressive.” –John I. (John I.)
“I was a little concerned on the cold draw before lighting, but this cigar was really pretty good. Good flavor combinations, and lots of smoke output. It did burn a bit on the fast side, but the flavors that came throughout the smoking experience were tasty and made sense together. I would smoke this again.” –Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
“This wasn’t the most complex cigar I have smoked but it did deliver some enjoyable flavors. The overall performance of the cigar from the construction to the burn really bumped it up for me.” –Zane G. (Zane)
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
Blind Cigar Review: Hoyo | La Amistad Silver Robusto
Overall Score – 90 – Very Good
Blind Cigar Review: Hoyo | La Amistad Silver Robusto
Summary
"I was a little concerned on the cold draw before lighting, but this cigar was really pretty good. Good flavor combinations, and lots of smoke output. It did burn a bit on the fast side, but the flavors that came throughout the smoking experience were tasty and made sense together. I would smoke this again." -Matthew T. (A Huge Nerd)
