Flor de las Antillas Toro: Review

My Father Cigars

Wrapper: Sun Grown Nicaraguan

Binder: Nicaraguan

Fillers: Nicaraguan

Size: 6 x 52 smooth box-press

Smoky’s of Northville: $7.95

Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year for 2012

They gave the Toro size a 96 rating out of 100

I smoked this Toro size the other week and followed it up with the Toro Gordo size.  The Toro seemed smoother than the Gordo size, I don’t know if it was my palate (something that I ate before having the Toro) or that’s how it is.  Let me review these two different sizes today.  I’ll smoke the Toro first (12 noon) and then tonight smoke the Toro Gordo. 

Off the Light: firm dose of white pepper right off the bat.  After the first half inch the white pepper mellows a bit and a nice sweet earthy style starts to develop.  At the one inch mark the ash is firm and gray.  Along with the sweet earthy tone there seems to be a hint of toasted pecan and espresso like coffee.  As the cigar nears the end of the first third the toasted pecan seems to have faded with the espresso, earth, undertone of white pepper and a toasted oak becoming the main profile.  Overall, the first third came across as medium-full.  I’ll give it a 6.5 on my strength rating. 

Mid-Point: the mouthfeel seems semi-smooth and seems to be settling in at a 6 on my strength scale here at the beginning of the mid-point.  The coffee note moves to a roasted dark roast, French Roast like.  There seems to be a sweet tobacco leaf note swirling around the earthy and woody tones.  The white pepper undertone is just that – just a hint of it – enough to give it the musty tone of white pepper.  Overall, for the mid-point, I’ll place it at the 5.5 on my strength scale – at the top of medium.  I think I can call the mouthfeel smooth at this point (at the end of the mid-point).

Down the Stretch: as the cigar enters the final third the toasted pecan shell or pecan wood reappears.  The mouthfeel is smooth during the final third.  A dry soil earthy tone with a medium roast coffee makes for a medium bodied smoking experience.  I’ll give a 5.5 on my strength scale. 

My Strength Rating: 6 overall for this ever-changing strength rating – just on the edge of medium-full. 

To the Point: the ever-changing strength rating makes for an interesting smoking experience.  I give a 7 on the first half inch; a 6.5 overall on the first third; then it changes to a 5.5 on the mid; 5.5 on the finish. 

The flavors are complex and seem to change with each inch of the cigar.  

I’ll have to buy more of these to store away in the humidor.