Origin : Nicaragua
Format : Box Pressed Toro
Size : 6 x 52
Wrapper : Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler : Nicaraguan and Honduran Ligeros
Binder : Nicaraguan
Hand-Made
Price : $6.00 each

So this past weekend was completely full of beautiful weather. Saturday morning I thought it would be a good idea to get up early and sit outside with the nice breeze. So I went through my humidor to find a nice, flavorful cigar to smoke and do an early morning review. As I was digging through my humidor, I stumbled across this box pressed gem and it was time to go outside and enjoy this cigar.

Appearance : Rating:
5 Vegas Cask Strength Firkin had the perfect box press to it. It was perfectly square, not rectangle shaped. The edges were actually sharp, not rounded. The wrapper was a chocolate shade of brown with a slight red tint to it. The wrapper had no veins throughout it that were any worry to me. The cap was flush and didn’t lift or split when I cut it. The stick itself was very solid with just one soft spot on the top side of the stick.

Construction : Rating:
This cigar was tightly packed, a little tighter than I am used to when smoking a box pressed cigar. Usually they are a little looser so it can be pressed without splitting and cracking. The cigar was very easy to light, I was a little surprised at this because of its solid pack. The ash was strong throughout the cigar with a nice layered pattern to it. The burn was quite uneven. At first it was just a little wavy, then it evened out. But once it got down to the soft spot, it canoed very bad. The draw, however, was flawless throughout the length of the cigar.

Flavor : Rating:
This is one of those cigars that don’t taste like much off the start, but quickly open up. At first there was only a mild spice, but after a few puffs a sweet cedar flavor came out. Almost as soon as the cedar came out, the spice died down. The prominent flavors through the first third were mainly a strong earthiness with a strong sweetness from the cedar. Towards the halfway point, a little bit of the spice comes back, but it is still drowned out by the woody tones. Then, all of a sudden, the flavor took a complete twist. The earthiness changed to almost a buttered toast flavor. It was very smooth and lingered on the palate for a while. This flavor, as well as the wood, made for a great finish.

Value : Rating:
There is not much you can complain about with a $6 stick. For this relatively exclusive brand (Cigars International) this is priced high. Most of the cigars from the 5 Vegas range retail for $3-$5, so I guess this is one of their top-of-the-line cigars.

Overall Rating : Rating: (3.75)
This isn’t the best cigar you’ll ever smoke, but it is a good one. The flavor is the best part of this stick. If they focused a little more on the construction aspect, it could become even better. This is the first box-pressed version of this cigar I have had, I had the other sizes before. The flavor stays relatively consistent among the different sizes. There is one thing you have to do when and if you smoke this one: prepare a glass of scotch. It will fully enhance this cigar’s flavors.