Robusto, 5" x 52 ring gauge / approx. $7.25
The Toraño Vault was first announced back in mid-July shortly before the annual IPCPR tradeshow. It was a few months before they started showing up on store shelves, though. The first time I saw them "in the wild" was a recent trip to Atlanta where I picked up this review sample at Tobacco World (technically in Marrieta). The full name, according to the bands, is Blends from the Vault - Blend A-008. Does this mean that there will be future Vault permutations? I guess that's possible, although I wondered the same thing about the Single Region when it arrived...and we still have just Jalapa under the Single Region banner. According to the company's story, Charlie Toraño and Bruce Lewis were revisiting the family Blend Book and re-discovered Liga A-008 from 2000. The original blend called for filler from Esteli and Condega, Nicaragua; a Jamastran Honduran binder; and a Nicaraguan Colorado wrapper. To that base, they added a second binder from Ometepe, a volcanic island in Honduras. As noted before, this is my first encounter with this blend.
The banding is interesting...still the minimalist theme that began with the Master and Single Region releases, but now more interesting with the black and silver color scheme and strategic use of embossing and die cutting. The wrapper was medium-brown with a decidedly reddish hue to it. It felt oily under my fingers and had a slightly lumpy appearance as it was stretched over the tobaccos underneath. The aroma from the wrapper was earthy and leathery...just a great mix of "classic humidor" smells; from the foot I got a rich earthiness. The prelight draw was excellent and had a rich natural tobacco flavor with a little earthiness and a little woodiness to it.
After lighting, I noticed the earthiness first...a fairly unique earthiness that I couldn't quite put a finger on...maybe the influence of the Ometepe? Right after that I noticed the pepper spice...red pepper on the tongue and a very sharp peppery bite on the retrohale. There were undertones of black coffee and a faint dried fruit sweetness. While I have enjoyed a few of the more recent Toraño offerings, I can't remember any of them being this complex and distinctive right from the opening. I have expressed my dislike (boredom) with heavily Honduran smokes (not all of them) in the past, and I was afraid with two Honduran binders this would fall into a dull zone. Instead, the Honduran leaf seemed to blend very well with the Nicaraguan wrapper and filler, mellowing out some of the edginess sometimes found in Nicaraguan puros. There was a nice pepperiness, but it was somewhat muted...a slow burn at the tip of the tongue and back of the throat. The earthy notes were rich and flavorful, and enough nuance of chocolate sweetness and coffee bitterness came through to make it complex and interesting. And this was just the first third.
In the second third the pepper faded quite a bit and the flavor became more leathery with an oily, almost chewy smoke with a long finish. The retrohale had an almond note to it. Construction so far had been excellent--strong ash that held on for more than half an inch, a very even burn line and fantastic draw.
The flavors in the final third were more of what I expected from the heavy influence of Honduran leaf, and that was too bad. It was still good and a bit of pepper spice did return, but mostly it was muted earthiness with a hint of sweetness, but nothing special. I think the boys at the Blowin' Smoke podcast would say it "creamed out." For two thirds, though, the Vault did smash my expectation, and for that I have to give Toraño credit. It was a very good cigar for a very reasonable price and I would enjoy smoking it again. The body was medium to full and the was a bit of nicotine hit, but not too much. Newer smokers might find it too much cigar, but almost everyone else might find something to enjoy. If you are a fan of Honduran leaf, the unique twists that this cigar puts on it (with the help of the Nicaraguan tobacco) might really make you sit up and take notice.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
The Toraño Vault was first announced back in mid-July shortly before the annual IPCPR tradeshow. It was a few months before they started showing up on store shelves, though. The first time I saw them "in the wild" was a recent trip to Atlanta where I picked up this review sample at Tobacco World (technically in Marrieta). The full name, according to the bands, is Blends from the Vault - Blend A-008. Does this mean that there will be future Vault permutations? I guess that's possible, although I wondered the same thing about the Single Region when it arrived...and we still have just Jalapa under the Single Region banner. According to the company's story, Charlie Toraño and Bruce Lewis were revisiting the family Blend Book and re-discovered Liga A-008 from 2000. The original blend called for filler from Esteli and Condega, Nicaragua; a Jamastran Honduran binder; and a Nicaraguan Colorado wrapper. To that base, they added a second binder from Ometepe, a volcanic island in Honduras. As noted before, this is my first encounter with this blend.
The banding is interesting...still the minimalist theme that began with the Master and Single Region releases, but now more interesting with the black and silver color scheme and strategic use of embossing and die cutting. The wrapper was medium-brown with a decidedly reddish hue to it. It felt oily under my fingers and had a slightly lumpy appearance as it was stretched over the tobaccos underneath. The aroma from the wrapper was earthy and leathery...just a great mix of "classic humidor" smells; from the foot I got a rich earthiness. The prelight draw was excellent and had a rich natural tobacco flavor with a little earthiness and a little woodiness to it.
After lighting, I noticed the earthiness first...a fairly unique earthiness that I couldn't quite put a finger on...maybe the influence of the Ometepe? Right after that I noticed the pepper spice...red pepper on the tongue and a very sharp peppery bite on the retrohale. There were undertones of black coffee and a faint dried fruit sweetness. While I have enjoyed a few of the more recent Toraño offerings, I can't remember any of them being this complex and distinctive right from the opening. I have expressed my dislike (boredom) with heavily Honduran smokes (not all of them) in the past, and I was afraid with two Honduran binders this would fall into a dull zone. Instead, the Honduran leaf seemed to blend very well with the Nicaraguan wrapper and filler, mellowing out some of the edginess sometimes found in Nicaraguan puros. There was a nice pepperiness, but it was somewhat muted...a slow burn at the tip of the tongue and back of the throat. The earthy notes were rich and flavorful, and enough nuance of chocolate sweetness and coffee bitterness came through to make it complex and interesting. And this was just the first third.In the second third the pepper faded quite a bit and the flavor became more leathery with an oily, almost chewy smoke with a long finish. The retrohale had an almond note to it. Construction so far had been excellent--strong ash that held on for more than half an inch, a very even burn line and fantastic draw.The flavors in the final third were more of what I expected from the heavy influence of Honduran leaf, and that was too bad. It was still good and a bit of pepper spice did return, but mostly it was muted earthiness with a hint of sweetness, but nothing special. I think the boys at the Blowin' Smoke podcast would say it "creamed out." For two thirds, though, the Vault did smash my expectation, and for that I have to give Toraño credit. It was a very good cigar for a very reasonable price and I would enjoy smoking it again. The body was medium to full and the was a bit of nicotine hit, but not too much. Newer smokers might find it too much cigar, but almost everyone else might find something to enjoy. If you are a fan of Honduran leaf, the unique twists that this cigar puts on it (with the help of the Nicaraguan tobacco) might really make you sit up and take notice.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
Nice review. Look forward to smoking one of these babies!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I'm a fan of Torano cigars and I'm glad they put out another winner. Just ordered a 5 pack of these.
ReplyDelete