Car. Torano Noventa La Esperanza

Of a box of 25, seven had major flaws such as splitting and wrappers coming off. The rest were very nice to look at, built well with no veining at all, even distribution of filler with no hard or soft spots. Unlit, the cigar has a pleasing aroma and you can tell that it is going to be a good smoke. This cigar takes me about 1 1/2 hours to finish. It never burns hot and has a consistent draw throughout which I find slightly tight but not overly. The flavors are a bit mild for such a dark cigar, but it is still complex enough to be pleasing. It seems slightly wooden and salty with the most pronounced flavors in the last 1/2 of the cigar. For the price I would like to see cigars that are not split.

It was absolutely beautiful; had a nice sheen to it, felt great in my hand, and looked gorgeous. The draw seemed tight prelight, but ended up being wonderful. First 1/3 of it felt a little light, with no real flavor leading the way. The last 2/3 left light flavors bouncing in and around throughout, but you've really got to be paying attention when smoking this to appreciate it. Overall, it looks great, draws great, I just felt the flavor was a little lacking at times. Pay better attention then I did, and you'll likely have a better experience.

A smooth shade-grown appearance with a slight sheen to the wrapper. A very attractive cigar. I was expecting a bold spicy start typical of Nicaraguan puros, but what I got instead was a very smooth, nearly creamy smoke. The base flavor here is wood with a touch of cedary spice. The draw is perfect, and the burn is as close to razor straight as I’ve had in a long while. There wasn’t too much development here, just a very relaxing spritely cigar with gentle spices jumping all over the palate — cedar, juniper, maybe a little vanilla bean. Never overbearing, perfectly balanced, and smooth as silk. I’d rate it a solid medium in body, though the smoke texture itself is a little bit heavier than that. A very fine cigar. The only down side is the price, but in this case you actually do get what you pay for.

Torano's first all-nigaraguan cigar is a winner.
This cigar is firm with small veins present, a uniform milk chocolate color and has a light sheen to it.
Construction is very good, starting with a sticking white to light-grey ash, and sporting a nice burn. Only one touch-up was needed and away it went with its perfect draw. First inch gave off strong oak, black pepper, and a schist-loam earthy flavor, leading to a dry and mildly spicy aftertaste. After this the oak mellowed a bit, keeping the dry finish and subtleties revealed themselves. Asian and cajun spices came into play with flutters of berry among the smoothness. All this continued right to the end with a cool burn throughout.