Keith Said:
Gran Toro, 6" x 60 ring gauge / $9.75
First off I'd like to again thank Amar, the owner of my regular shop (Maxamar's Ultimate Cigars, Orange, CA), as he gave me this sample from what he brought back from IPCPR. Since this is technically a pre-release I was only able to smoke 1 cigar for this review. Jason over at Miami Cigar (@MiamiCigar) provided the following information about this cigar: "The Guillermo Leon project has been in the works for years now. If Guillermo was going to come out with a cigar with his name on it he had to be 100% sure it was a winner. Its wrapper is an Ecuadorian Habano Vuelta Arriba, the fillers are from Peru, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Nicaragua, with a dual binder of Cameroon & Dominican Corojo. It comes in 4 sizes: a 5.5 x 42 Corona, a 6 x 47 Gran Corona, a 6.25 x 52 Belicoso and the one I smoked a 6 x 60 Gran Toro." From all of the reviews on the web and from comments on Twitter I was looking forward to lighting this one up.
The first thing that I notice about this cigar is the band and how to contrasts nicely with the cigar. It very simple but very classic at the same time, with the colors of red, silver and black drawing your eye to it. The wrapper is of medium brown color with a slightly reddish tint to it. There are a medium amount of veins on it and is slightly oily. When squeezed I'm able to detect a slight amount of give with no soft spots. As I put my nose to the wrapper I'm able to detect the aromas of barnyard and leather, with barnyard coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a draw on it the only taste I get is a slight sweetness, with a free draw.
As soon as I light it up the flavors of leather, earth and sweetness come through with some spice on the tongue and retrohale. As I progress through the first third the flavors of cinnamon, bitter chocolate, cola, and wood come through. The draw was great and it produced a large volume of smoke. The burn was slightly uneven, but it didn't require a touchup. The grayish-black ash held on for about an inch and a half before it needed to be tapped off. The cigar was pretty much squarely in the medium strength range.
The spice toned down a bit as the second third started. The burn was pretty consistent with the draw and volume of smoke continuing to be great. The predominate flavors were of leather, cedar, cream, coffee, a sweetness, herbal spice, and cola. This was a very complex cigar.
The strength built a bit as I progress into the final third. While I wouldn't call it full bodied, I would call it medium full. I think that this cigar would be very approachable for most smokers out there. The flavors present in the final third were coffee, leather, wood, spice, bitter chocolate, cola, sweetness & cream. The spice did ramp up a bit too. When it was time to take off the band it came off very easily.
Overall this was a very enjoyable cigar. I would really like to try the other sizes as I've heard they are even better than this size. As soon as my regular shop gets them you can guarantee that I'll be giving them a try.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10
The first thing that I notice about this cigar is the band and how to contrasts nicely with the cigar. It very simple but very classic at the same time, with the colors of red, silver and black drawing your eye to it. The wrapper is of medium brown color with a slightly reddish tint to it. There are a medium amount of veins on it and is slightly oily. When squeezed I'm able to detect a slight amount of give with no soft spots. As I put my nose to the wrapper I'm able to detect the aromas of barnyard and leather, with barnyard coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a draw on it the only taste I get is a slight sweetness, with a free draw.
As soon as I light it up the flavors of leather, earth and sweetness come through with some spice on the tongue and retrohale. As I progress through the first third the flavors of cinnamon, bitter chocolate, cola, and wood come through. The draw was great and it produced a large volume of smoke. The burn was slightly uneven, but it didn't require a touchup. The grayish-black ash held on for about an inch and a half before it needed to be tapped off. The cigar was pretty much squarely in the medium strength range.
The spice toned down a bit as the second third started. The burn was pretty consistent with the draw and volume of smoke continuing to be great. The predominate flavors were of leather, cedar, cream, coffee, a sweetness, herbal spice, and cola. This was a very complex cigar.
The strength built a bit as I progress into the final third. While I wouldn't call it full bodied, I would call it medium full. I think that this cigar would be very approachable for most smokers out there. The flavors present in the final third were coffee, leather, wood, spice, bitter chocolate, cola, sweetness & cream. The spice did ramp up a bit too. When it was time to take off the band it came off very easily.
Overall this was a very enjoyable cigar. I would really like to try the other sizes as I've heard they are even better than this size. As soon as my regular shop gets them you can guarantee that I'll be giving them a try.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
Dave Said:
Belicoso, 6.2" x 52 ring gauge / approx. $8.00
The band on this stick to me looks very "executive --modern, clean, high end--and the cigar it is wrapped around is also very attractive. I saw a smooth, oily leaf with some mottling and a few medium-sized veins but no real flaws aside from wear and tear that this stick went through in transit (coming from the IPCPR show to a local shop, then through the mail to me, it took a little more abuse than would be typical). The aroma from the wrapper was manure and earth, while the foot had earthiness and a bit of cocoa, as well as something else that eluded me a bit. The cold draw was nice and open; the flavor was rather unique and somewhat hard to describe--but since it's my job, I will try. I got a definite spicy tingle on the lips; the other flavor is a sweet fruity, almost citrusy tang. From discussions I had with a fellow BOTL who loves a specific type of leaf, this is the Peruvian influence.
Once lit I was immediately greeted with notes of orange peel, earth, and some sort of autumn spice--all riding on top of a base of cedar. After a few minutes that initial burst of flavors settled down but I still got hints of orange and other things coming through the woody base. The retrohale had a nuttiness to it--almost almonds. So far this was one of the most interesting of the new crop of sticks from this year's IPCPR show. By the end of the first third I noticed an unsweetened cocoa flavor and that my mouth was quite dry. I'm thinking keeping a glass of water nearby while you smoke might be a good idea with this stick.
That barely sweet flavor of the Peruvian leaf continued through the middle segment and proved to be a very interesting counterpoint to the bitter cocoa and woody notes. Construction so far was very good; the draw was slightly tighter than I would prefer, but there was no danger of flame-out. The burn line had been even with no need of touch-ups. By the end of the third I noticed a slight building of pepper spice.
In the last third there was more cedar and cocoa powder with the sweetness taking a more supporting role. The pepper spice never got to a point where you could really call this cigar spicy. In the end this was really a fantastic smoke--complex and interesting, not overpowering or overwhelming in any way. The body was just barely at the medium-to-full range and the smoke itself was smooth and creamy the entire way. This cigar was definitely worth the wait. If repeated sampling performs similar to the review stick, I could easily see buying a lot of these--perhaps a box or two along the way, even. I am particularly interested in the Corona vitola that is part of the initial release and the Lancero that is reportedly in development. One last note: I would like to thank Mike Nelson at Leaf & Ale in Knoxville, TN, for providing me with this review sample.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 9/10
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
Agree, disagree or have your own thoughts you would like to share on this cigar? Please leave a comment and speak your mind!
I smoked the gran corona. My first impression was that this cigar seemed quite similar to the many La Aurora Cetros I’ve smoked: A cedary taste with a dry mouth feel to the smoke. However, whereas the La Aurora Cetro is a mild, one-note cigar, the Guillermo Leon has some strength and complexity, owing I think to the corojo binder and multi-country filler. The flavors never seemed to deviate too far from the initial cedar, yet there was dynamism to it. The burn seemed somewhat lackluster. I have more gran coronas and some robustos too. I look forward to comparing the two sizes and seeing if the burn problem was a one-time occurrence.
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