Rodrigo Toro
Mike from MikesStogies.com sent me a few samples of this boutique cigar. I would like to tell you to look at the Rodrigo website to look up details about this cigar, but there isn’t a whole lot going on there for now. This is a boutique brand that is available in very limited markets. You can find them in Pittsburg PA, upstate NY, Warwick RI, and Houston TX.
I don’t know if there are any plans of expanding markets. I can only speculate that their website will eventually be updated with information at some point. So without wasting any time, I smoked up my samples, and paired this review with water.
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Size: Toro 6 x 50
Price: Around 7 – $8.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper had a slightly blotchy, rugged appearance with no flaws. The wrapper had almost no odor, perhaps a sweet tobacco. The foot had the same mild smell, with a slight spice. I found a couple hard and soft spots, but nothing I would call out of the ordinary. The pre-light draw was very free, and had a mild earthy spice.
The burn required a few corrections, and the ash held for about an inch.
Flavor:
The first third had dominant coffee and woody flavors. When passing smoke through the nose, there was a nice spice. It wasn’t punch you in the face pepper. In fact, there was no pepper at all. I’m not quite sure what spice I can compare it to. As this third came to an end, the spice mellowed out, and I think I started picking up on some fruity notes from time to time. A nice sweetness kicked in right at the end and closed out the first third.
The second third continued with dominant coffee and woody flavors. Up there with it was that sweetness I mentioned before. My palate is limited in flavor detection, and I had a hard time comparing the sweetness to a food. It was not mocha, but it wasn’t quite caramel either. There was a bit of a kick when passing through the sinus. The immense smoke volume created a somewhat thick, sweet, woody aftertaste. Far in the background, I picked up earthiness from time to time, along with elusive fruity notes.
The last third took turns switching the dominant flavor. Wood, coffee, sweetness. They all took their turns at the front of the profile. Sometimes they would mingle together in equal strength. At times the sweetness leaned towards bitter chocolate. With the flavors being so up front in this third, I didn’t pick up any nuances in the background like before. Through the nose, the spice wasn’t that intense. The aftertaste stuck to the mouth with a combination of sweetness, coffee, wood, and a cinnamon type of spice.
Conclusion:
This was a good medium to upper medium bodied cigar. I found it to be very relaxing, and the flavors switched up and kept my interest. From start to finish, the flavors were good, and I never had any harshness. I think this is a nice boutique cigar. Thanks again to MikesStogies.com for sending these to me to review. I think the Rodrigo is worth a shot.
This entry was posted on Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cigar Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Hogman21 February 26th, 2011 at 9:46 am
Tom I really like this stick and itsvgret to see some of these boutique blends getting the recognition they deserve. Great review and as always thanks for the shout out.