Cigar Review: Carlos Torano Exodus 1959 50 Years

Short Churchill, 6" x 48 ring gauge, $7.44
The Torano family fled Cuba in 1959 after Fidel Castro came to power and nationalized all tobacco farms and cigar factories. The Exodus 1959 cigars were introduced in 2001 to commemorate the leaving of Cuba by Carlos Torano and other important cigar personalities. It was recognized in 2006 as one of Cigar Aficionado's Top 5 Cigars. This new version of the Exodus was unveiled at 2009's IPCPR trade show and was intended to be a full-bodied blend in the line. It features Nicaraguan filler from Esteli and Pueblo Nuevo, a Honduran binder, and a Brazilian Arapica Sun Grown wrapper.

This is a much more rustic-looking cigar than others in the Exodus line...so much so that it reminds me in some ways of a Backwoods: lumpy, bumpy, and somewhat misshapen. The wrapper itself was dark and oily, velvety to the touch and practically flawless. The aroma from the body is leather and humidor; from the foot I got some cocoa and wet earthiness. The prelight draw was good and had flavors of dark chocolate and dried fruit.

Initial puffs were very full-bodied and thick. There were touches of leather and earth in a semi-sweet, pepper-infused melange. There was a lot going on from the very start and it was already more full-bodied than any other Exodus 1959 stick. The rest of the first third was very heavy on black pepper with the burn that brings and also some raspiness in the back of the throat. There was also some leather and earth; so far the 50 years was proving to be full in body and flavor.

The second third was where things started to go wrong for this stick: there was a sour, citrusy taste that came around for a while. I did not care for it, but it did go away fairly quickly, leaving a nice, rich black coffee flavor.

In the last third there was more pepper again, but the problem was the tangy citrus sourness came back and hung around on top of everything else. This did prove to be a full-bodied, peppery smoke that is a departure from the Exodus line that I have grown so fond of. I just did not enjoy this version nearly as much as the initial line. The sour flavors were a bit off-putting, so I really do not see myself purchasing this one much in the future. Of course, there is a chance I got a bad sample or two, so I will try these again at some point, but for now, there are just too many other sticks in the same price category that I enjoy far more.

Body: 9/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 7/10

AFP Scale:
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7.5/10