Carlos Torano Dominico Robusto 1

Overall Score

1 review for Carlos Torano Dominico Robusto 1

  1. S**********

    Carlos Torano Dominico Robusto

    Origin : Dominican Republic
    Torano cigarsFormat : Robusto
    Size : 4 3/4 x 52
    Wrapper : Ecuadorian Connecticut
    Filler : Dominican Republic
    Binder : Dominican Republic
    Hand-Made
    Price : £6.50 each

    Today we’ve got a guest cigar review from our reader Seedeater56, enjoy!

    I regularly contribute my own views (as something of a newbie to this pleasure) and I find it interesting how these converge/diverge with those of other readers/contributors. I have contributed to the Montecristo (Open Master, Open Regata and No. 5) and El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme reviews predominantly, but also others.

    I would like to share my views on other brands which I sample, mainly drawn from my favourite stockist, Fox’s of St James’, London. As a newbie, I think I can add something to the experience of other beginners, as reviews can, with time, become quite in-depth (rightly so) but would benefit from sharing a newcomer’s take as well.

    I am particularly interested in being able to draw out cigars which may suit the palate of the beginner which will include bigger names with less demanding flavours and, crucially, other non-Cuban cigars which, on account of perhaps more modest pricing, may be more attainable on a regular basis.

    To this end, I’d like to start with the Fox’s new, in-house brand, the Carlos Torano Dominico Robusto 1.

    The Carlos Torano Dominico series is marketed as a budget (non-Cuban) cigar and comes in a few vitolas of which two are readily available from my favourite stockist in St James’, the Robusto and a Perla.

    The Robusto comes bundled in 25s and each cigar is cellophane wrapped. The band is a “plain” narrow black paper with the word Dominico in yellow; there is no other indication on the wrapper. The feel of the cigar is solid, delivering a gentle smell of tobacco with few overt notes. The wrapper has a dry appearance but without the dusty feel of badly kept cigars, pleasant to the touch.

    I invariably use a punch for my cigars (Victorinox penknife with a bespoke 3 hole blade which comfortably covers 30-52 ring). The punch leaves a clean hole, adequately deep with a clean edge which does not flake at all – perfect. The pre light draw is clean and easy – despite the solid feel of the roll. The construction is excellent, with no hint of the wrapper coming loose.

    The foot toasts perfectly, but needs quite some application (I put this down to the apparently tight roll) but the first couple of draws require minimal touch up.

    The initial flavour is quite sharp with lots of peppery tones. These stay with the smoke for the first half of the cigar but at the same time, a rich sweet flavour develops but not achieving the rich chocolate quality of something like a ERdM Choix Supreme.

    By halfway, the peppery sharpness has left the cigar and the whole experience becomes one of mildness. At this point I really enjoy just letting the full smoke waft around me, it does not conflict with the drink I have and I enjoy drawing the smoke back up to let it travel around the sinuses. As a relative beginner, this offers all the enjoyment of a cigar taste without challenging me too much. This is not a criticism, but rather a pointer that a beginner will enjoy this smoke at any time, whilst even the more seasoned aficionado would enjoy this early in the day or after a light meal where you don’t want to loose other flavours.

    The smoke I just had was particularly pleasant; I allowed the stack to build deliberately to see how well it held and broke it after three inches! I do believe it would have held further, this is testament to the construction. The burn remained even throughout, I was able to put it down and retrieve it without any need for touch up. There was absolutely no sign of the wrapper breaking away or unevenness in the stack.

    To sum up: The Dominico Robusto is an excellently constructed cigar which delivers a gentle (undemanding sounds too negative in this context), smoke which begins quite peppery but becomes sweeter with time. It is an ideal early cigar or one to complement the delicate flavours of a meal or drink. Above all, it is an ideal introduction of this vitola to newer aficionados whilst remaining within a reasonable budget.

    Construction: [rating:5/5]
    Flavour: [rating:3/5]
    Value: [rating:5/5]

    Helpful?
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    • g**** m*******

      excellent review. I,m a newbie too and prefer the milder cigars. keep it up

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Cigar Region Dominican Republic
Filler Dominican
Wrapper Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder Dominican Republic
Length 4 3/4
Ring Gauge 52
Vitola Robusto
Construction Hand Made
Price Paid £6.50