Most cigars tend to use tobacco from multiple farms or countries, so it is much less common to see a cigar constructed with tobacco from the same farm or country. The newest edition of the New World brand from AJ Fernandez not only uses tobacco all from the same country, Nicaragua, but also uses tobacco primarily grown at the same farm. Most of the tobacco comes from AJ Fernandez’ Dorado farm in Estelí. Dorado meaning “golden” in Spanish, the cigar is named after the farm due to what AJ Fernandez says it’s “golden texture and taste”.
OVERVIEW
VITOLA: Toro
SIZE: 6″ x 54
ORIGIN: Nicaragua
FACTORY: San Lotano Factory
WRAPPER: Habano Sun Grown Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
FILLER: Nicaragua
STRENGTH: Medium to Full
SOURCE:
AJ Fernandez Cigars
ENVIRONMENT
WHERE:
Habano Cigar Lounge, Davenport, IA
WHEN:
Mid-Afternoon
DRINKS:
Water and Coffee
WEATHER:
74°F inside and outside
HOW MANY CIGARS SMOKED:
3
PRODUCTION
RELEASE TYPE Regular Production
ORIGINALLY RELEASE DATE September 2022
TOTAL PRODUCTION
Typical Box Size: Boxes of 10
Production Totals: Unknown
VITOLA BREAKDOWN
o Corona (5 ⅝” x 46)
o Robusto (5 ½“ x 52)
o Gordito (5 ½” x 60)
o Figurado (6” x 56)
o Toro (6” x 54)
BAND DESIGN
The band definitely takes inspiration from it’s name. As with the other New World brand cigars, it has the portrait of the European explorers landing in the New World, except with a yellow background. It is offset with eye-catching gold trim and accents. There is even a gold ribbon foot band at the end of the cigar. The band contrasts beautifully with the brown tobacco. The inside of the band features a printed version of Abdel Fernández’s signature.
The only objection I would have is that I feel the ribbon on the foot is unnecessary. It’s going to be taken off immediately anyway. I get that it’s supposed to make the cigar more appealing to consumers, but foot bands for me just make the cigar look smaller and takes away precious seconds where I could be lighting it. The band is fairly sizeable, not too large or too small, so the ribbon just takes space where it is not needed.
PRE-LIGHT OBSERVATIONS
CONSTRUCTION
The cigar itself is a mocha color. It’s not too oily, but just enough to provide a little bit of shine. The wrapper and the ribbon are shinier than the cigar itself. There are visible veins and wrapper seams. Fairly smooth to the touch with just a little texture. It seems to be a softer box press, not entirely round, but does not have the pointed square edges. The cigar was not too firm, and not so tightly rolled that I couldn’t smoke it. The cigar did have an uneven burn, but it did level itself out after a few puffs.
AROMA
The pre-light aroma was noticeable, with the distinctive smell of earth, cedar, and tobacco.
COLD DRAW
The cold draw has a strong earthy taste with hints of pepper.
SMOKING EXPERIENCE
LIGHT & DRAW
Cut: V Cut
Fire: Vertigo Cyclone
The first draw was a pepper bomb, and once that receded a bit there was leather and earth present.
SMOKE
With all three of the cigars that I smoked, there was a steady stream of light smoke coming from the cigar even if I left it alone for a bit. The smoke was dense and creamy. Very seldom did I have to relight it, even after a couple minutes of inactivity.
FIRST THIRD
>> Pepper, Leather, Earth
I’m not going to lie, the first couple of puffs were very strong on the pepper for me. I usually don’t mind the pepper, but the first couple of puffs were almost like a punch to the face with how strong the pepper was. Eventually, with a sip or two of water, the pepper receded enough for me to able to taste the leather and the earth present. About 5 puffs in, the pepper finally mellowed out and allowed the other flavors to come through a lot easier. The flavors complimented each other to the point where the taste almost reminded me of campfire smoke. The smoking experience became a lot smoother once that pepper died down a bit.
SECOND THIRD
>> Pepper, Leather, Bread
This is the part where the cigar got really good. Pepper and leather linger on the tongue in a pleasant manner. As I’m going through this part, I’m also tasting something that reminds me of bread, almost like a piece of toast fresh from the toaster. Until this point, I would say that the cigar was medium strength and body, but towards the beginning of the final third the flavors ramped up a bit. The pepper came back with a vengeance, and the strength became more full bodied. The ash was grey, black, and white.
FINAL THIRD
>> Pepper, Leather
The pepper gets so intense that at this point it has completely overwhelmed my taste buds, with the leather fighting to join it. Because its near the end of the cigar, the burn is also coming through, and adding that to the pepper taste makes for a very intense experience. The body of the cigar has definitely increased from medium body into full body. The heat from the burn doesn’t permeate the cigar too badly, but it starts to come through the smoke. It was at this point I reluctantly put down the cigar and conceded defeat.
RATING & FINAL THOUGHTS
FLAVOR PROGRESSION
The pepper never leaves the cigar, and permeates throughout the entire smoking experience. It dies down towards the middle, and resurges towards the end. Leather also remains the entire time as a secondary companion to the pepper. The earth present in the first third eventually turns into an enjoyable bread-like taste in the middle. The end of the cigar is punctuated with pepper and heat. This is not a cigar that lets you easily ignore it.
BURN EXPERIENCE
The three cigars I had for this review were all consistent. They did not have an even burn, but they eventually evened out without me having to burn one side. The smoke was smooth and creamy, letting me easily taste the cigar. I barely had to relight it, so the cigar itself did not need too much maintenance.
RATING BREAKDOWN
0.80 / 0.80 … Craft & Aesthetic
0.50 / 0.50 … Pre-Light Characteristics
0.50 / 0.50 … Lighting Process
6.80 / 7.70 … Smoking Experience
0.20 / 0.50 … Personal Enjoyment
COMPLIMENTS & CRITIQUES
- Barely needed relighting.
- Strong flavor profile.
- Too much pepper for me personally.
Fiery and Intense
For those who like pepper, this is a great cigar. I personally enjoyed the cigar, but the pepper took over everything until I basically had to fight it to catch anything else. With the way the flavor profile went, it was almost like a boxer who had gotten knocked down and gotten back up to fight again. This a very strong medium strength and body cigar until the end where the strength goes up a few notches. As such, this is a great cigar for those who enjoy medium to full cigars. For those who don’t enjoy a strong pepper taste, I would smoke this with a beverage of choice, to hopefully balance the pepper out and help the other flavors get a fighting chance. While not personally my favorite, it’s still a decent cigar that can appeal to many consumers.
