Cigar Reserve Cedar Spills & Cigars

Three New Cigars from the Torano Family and Saved by a Cigar Reserve Cedar Spill

By Dr. Mitch Fadem, El Medico del Cigarro

Contributing Writer – About.Com

I am continuing my adventure through the cigars of the 2013 ICPCR. One of the booths on my list of must visit were those of the Torano Cigar Family. They are of course legends in the industry. Jack Torano gave me three of their new blends, the Exodus 2013, Vault and Selecta Reserva. I will review them in order.

Exodus 1959 the 2013 Edition – 4 Stars

I always like to take a new cigar, put it right up to my nose and inhale the aroma of the pre-lit tobacco. This one is very ‘old world’ and reminiscent of Cuban cigars circa 1950. The cigar is surprisingly soft to the touch with a lot of give. The draw is one of the lightest of any cigar I have smoked and also one of fastest lighting. I barely touched the foot to the flame and with one puff the cigar was lit. I usually let my cigars sit for 30 to 60 seconds before I begin smoking so as not to draw in any possible bitterness that might come from the initial burning of the tobacco. This cigar did not have any of that, it was good right from the first puff. The cigar is smooth with an earthy flavor and the aroma light and mild and chestnut-like. Then, this nice smoking cigar did something you don’t see very often. One side just would not burn. There are many reasons for this but I will save my explanation for another article. I will say that some of it has to do with climate changes as the cigars journey thousands of miles to land in your humidor. I am pleased to say that in this case, it really did not affect on the enjoyment is this cigars. I always leave the ash fall off by itself but this ash has some help staying attached to the cigar because the binder and wrapper on one side were not burning at all. Finally, after I smoked half the cigar I used my lighter to burn off the rest of the non-burning tobacco and the ash still held on. Despite the uneven burn problems the cigar smoked well and I would definitely say it is a good cigar.

Tornao Vault (new blend for 2013) – 4 Stars

The pre-light aroma on this cigar was excellent and quite a mixture. I picked up aged wine barrels, scotch and bourbon. There was a little give in this cigar and the draw was effortless, much better even than the Exodus. Lighting was easy and instantly the flavors came through as floral, sweet with a hint of spice and very creamy and smooth. As in the Exodus this cigar had uneven burn problems. The wrapper and binder nearly completely separated from the filler, similarly on one side. I kept smoking it because it was just that good of cigar and after all, we buy cigars to smoke them, not look at them. The ash also held on to the middle of the cigar with the help of the non-burning outer leaves. And again, regardless of these uneven burn problems it was one of the better cigars that I have smoked recently.

Selecta Reserve (new blend for 2013) – 3 Stars

I tried something different when lighting this cigar, I used a cedar spill supplied to me by Cigar Reserve. I was hoping that the series of uneven burns experiences might have been a lighting issue. This cigar was much firmer than the other two and the draw much more restrictive. It was however still adequate enough to for a non-labored smoke. The flavors on this cigar are not my favorites; leathery, acidic and bitterness. On the other hand the aroma was excellent. It was an interesting combination of chocolate, coffee and cinnamon. The leather taste faded a bit but the bitterness did not and totally dried out the sides and back of my tongue. Just like the other two cigars this one had uneven burn issues and the binder and wrapper did the same routine as before of not burning on one side. I just stopped smoking it around the mid-point.

Final Words

With all the burn problems of these cigars I still believe they good and have great potential. My favorite was the Vault. Right now, until I can smoke several more of these cigars I am not going to blame the uneven burn on the cigar. New Mexico is dry and even with all the rain we are having right now the humidity still was only around 35%. I am fairly certain these cigars will smoke much better is a wetter climate and in my opinion will end up being some of the best you can smoke at the price point which they are being offered at.

Written by Cigar Reserve — September 19, 2013

Leave a comment

Please note: comments must be approved before they are published.