As 2015 winds down, a cigar review is in order as I have just finished off my last offering from Famous Smokes. This time I was sent the AVO Heritage Toro to review and this time I changed things up a bit. I immediately placed them in my humidor and let them sit. I waited a month before I smoked the first two, two months for the second, and nearly three months for the last two. As I am not a big fan of Connecticut wrappers, I felt that waiting would be a benefit. It turns out it was!
My first impression was that this cigar didn’t look like it had a Connecticut wrapper like I was used to, nor did it have the aroma I was anticipating. In fact, the cigar almost looked like it had a maduro-like wrapper, was rolled perfectly, had few veins, and smelled like a rich coffee. As a connoisseur of damn near anything coffee I was ready to fire one up!
The first ones I smoked didn’t bring forth much flavor, just bitter smoke. For a full strength cigar, this didn’t taste or smoke like one. Once I got into each cigar, they kept going out on me about 1/3 of the way through. They would canoe over and over. I would light it and smoke another third before it would go out again. I began to feel disappointment. The flavor in the middle third was good, but the end tasted like ash. What was going on? I decided to let the others sit for a couple months in the humidor.
Two months went by and I was eager to try one of the Heritage Toro cigars again. Would they be good enough to smoke after sitting? The next one smoked very well and had light flavors of oak, but it was still canoeing. Very little spice was present, but it was a good smoke. The cigar still wasn’t to my liking and that’s when I decided I would wait another month to smoke the last two. I am glad I waited!
I wasn’t sure if aging them a bit longer would help and I wanted to be sure I had aged them long enough. It turns out that after aging them for three months, they smoked very well! No canoeing and they didn’t go out on me! The flavor was very natural. Hints of oak, and a mild coffee finish. For a full-bodied cigar it wasn’t overpowering, but very soothing. It also tasted pretty good! I figured with a Connecticut wrapper it would taste like a forest floor, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not all Connecticut wrappers are the same, which is something I am still learning about. I sat back with an iced coffee and enjoyed the heck out of that cigar. It smoked incredibly well all the way down to the nub.
As I racked my brain trying to figure out what had happened, I can only surmise that the cigars hadn’t had time to truly gain back their moisture in those first two months. Whether it was my humidor or something I was doing wrong, I realized I had to be patient. If you want to bring out the best in a cigar, give it time in your humidor.
I would most certainly recommend these to my cigar loving friends, especially those who hunt. Why hunters? I say that because these are great to let age in the humidor all year and when hunting season comes around and you have a reason to celebrate, fire one of these up and enjoy! They are reasonably priced between $8-9 per stick and are great to share with friends. (Sorry guys, I smoked all of mine!)
Thank you again to Famous Smoke Shop for giving me the opportunity to review the AVO Heritage Toro. I have to say that after aging them I really enjoyed them. AVO Heritage cigars are available from Famous Smoke Shop, and if you do purchase one or have smoked them, please let me know your thoughts on the cigar in the comments below. I would love to hear what your experience was. Happy New Year and I hope you welcome 2016 with a cigar in hand!
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