Initial Thoughts
As with most of their cigars, the price tag on this Davidoff Nicaragua Toro was nonetheless. At an average cost of $17/stick, I must make a shout-out to Siz for purchasing this! Siz and I were at a local cigar shop here in Nashville for an event and he said to me, ‘if I buy this tonight will you promise to smoke and review this tomorrow?’ Not a bad place to be in for me!
Being that it is an expensive cigar, I expected the best out of this smoking experience. I’ve had several Davidoffs in the past and have come to the realization that with cigars (most times), you do get what you pay for. Now, there are many cigars in the $5-10 category that are amazing, yes, but having a 10-year-old wrapper leaf from Nicaragua is pretty damn cool. And to me, it promised flavor! Read on and let’s see if it held up its end…
Looks
This Davidoff Nicaragua Toro was girthy in appearance. Along with the Toro size, it was fully (and quite evenly packed). Accompanied by the size, the Habano Seed Rosado wrapper was beautiful. There were just a couple of small veins but they didn’t bother me one bit. There was a perfect triple cap on the head of this stick.
The color of the wrapper was a lighter brown but not like shade-grown. It almost seemed to glisten in the mid-afternoon, Nashville sun (you may be thinking…it’s the middle of December, what the hell are you doing on your deck, spending over an hour? Well, this particular day, it happened to be sunny and 66 degrees; perfect smoking weather!).
Function
So far, I felt this Davidoff Nicaragua Toro was off to a great start (and I hadn’t even lit it up yet!).
Upon smelling the wrapper, I got an earthy scent mixed with sawdust and hay. On the foot, I was met with a floral and spicy intake. After clipping the triple cap, I took in a perfect cold draw and was accompanied by a lot of flavor; floral, light coffee, earth, and there was a spice that lingered on my tongue.
Ok, now I couldn’t wait any longer; I needed to light this thing up!
Smoking
This Davidoff Nicaragua Toro produced a very good amount of gray/blue smoke once lit. The actual smoke smelled like fresh tobacco and had great floral notes.
The burn stayed fairly even for the 1st third but into the 2nd, it became a little uneven. Not to worry; it quickly straightened itself out and didn’t affect any flavor.
The ash on this Toro held on for 2 inches! It didn’t drop off until the end of the 2nd third and was extremely even. The draw was fantastic and burned almost perfectly.
Flavor
Immediately after lighting this Davidoff Nicaragua Toro up, I noticed a nutty coffee flavor and there was a lot of it! After it settled down some cocoa flavor introduced itself. About halfway into the 1st third, the flavor was full and very balanced. In the retrohale, there was a mix of floral and spice and not overpowering at all; again, very balanced.
Into the 2nd third, the flavor got even more intense and balanced (as if that was even possible) and started getting very creamy. Halfway through the 2nd third, there was more spice in the retrohale and it really tasted like a Nicaraguan cigar!
Into the final third, the creaminess intensified and the spice made me sneeze once! Love that! Throughout the entire cigar, there was a sweetness on my tongue when I touched it to the head and balanced out the nutty, coffee flavors very nicely. Just as all the other flavors did, the sweetness on my tongue intensified as the cigar smoked on.
Is it an Every Day Smoke?
I would say yes but it would be hard to spend $17 on a cigar every day. This would definitely be a great ‘special occasion’ cigar. That being said, if I had a lot of money, this would be an everyday treat to smoke.
Would I buy a box?
If I had the money, I would most definitely buy a box.
Conclusion
I was really impressed with this Davidoff Nicaragua Toro! The flavor was so balanced and creamy, the burn near perfect, and the overall experience, spectacular. I really liked how the flavor just kept getting better and better and more intense as the burn went on. I will definitely be buying one of these (for myself…ok, maybe for Siz too) in the very near future. I can’t agree with all of the Top 25 Cigars of the Year from Cigar Aficionado but I will agree wholeheartedly with this one. I highly recommend getting at least one of these sticks; you won’t be disappointed!
