Estillo Cubano (Toraso 5.75x54)

I know it's been a while since I've posted a review.  It's a shame on my part as I have enjoyed quite a few good cigars in the past few months, but lives events have consumed quite a lot of time including a move that included our whole household as well as relocating my business, all while making sure business kept clicking during the transition.  Thankfully we are settled into the new place and life is taking on a new sense of "normal" if there exist such a thing.  Many a day I have just sat and enjoyed a smoke during the transition, if anyone tells you that moving is easy, I can assure you that they are lying to both you, but also themselves.

Today we are going to take a look at the Estillo Cubana Toraso 5.75"x54 cigar made by the Ventura Cigar Company.  Up until getting not one, but two free cigars in the mail had not heard of this company, but because of a ad campaign ran in Cigar Aficionado magazine offering FREE cigars if you choose to like their Facebook Page, I became aware of and now an enjoyer of this brand of cigar.

Middle Tennessee where we reside has been HOT that past few weeks.  Thankfully the heat broke and last night the temperature was an almost perfect 80 degrees with a breeze and very low humidity.  Seemed like a perfect night for a smoke.  When my wife suggested letting the kids run around in the backyard, something that in the heat has been almost impossible while she had a glass of wine, I knew a cigar was in my future.  We had been in Orlando all of last week, and during that time I had smoked a few Rocky Patel and Nish Patel cigars, and although I still had a Rocky Patel sitting in the humidor, I thought it'd be a good chance to try something new and the Estillo Cubano called out to me from the humidor begging to be smoked.

I have had a bit of humidity control issues in my humidor in the new house, so I knew everything in there was probably going to be a bit on the dry side as I try to regulate and get my humidor balanced again, but any issues I may have had surely didn't show on this cigar.  The first thing I noticed about the Maduro wrapper was the tightly wound pigtail at the head of the cigar.  I prefer to use a punch on my cigars, but elected to cut the head however I kept it close to the tip so as to best mimic a punch.

I roasted the foot using a butane lighter as opposed to a torch, so the roasting took a minute or two longer than a torch would, and when the time was right I took the first draw on the cigar.  First draws are always interesting and fun because it often serves as a preview of what is in store, and strong earthy flavor with pepper on the finish suggested the strength of the smoke and the experience to come.

After the first few draws I took a moment to make sure the foot was evenly lit as a small portion of it hadn't seem to taken yet, but after that minor adjustment it was smooth sailing from that point on needing no additional flame to keep the cigar lit, a fact that demonstrated the even firm construction of the cigar.

I initially paired the cigar with a simple 50/50 lemonade ice tea out of the fridge that I have been drinking throughout the day (no alcohol!) however I took a sip of the Shiraz my wife was drinking and realized the wine much better suited to this cigar than the sweet drink I had started with.  Whereas the ice tea washed out and overpowered the taste of the cigar, the wine accentuated and enhanced the flavors allowing the pepper and spice to develop and flourish.

The smoke on each draw was full and offered tremendous mouth feel, and the the ash was tight and held on for almost 1/3 the length of the cigar before finally dropping.  I stopped several times to grab a picture of the ash, however as I reached for my camera to capture the ash it dropped, however I can tell you that if you are patient this cigar does offer the ability to create a long ash if that is your thing.

For some reason while smoking this cigar the idea of listening to some Dean Martin came to me, so I put that on the iPad to listen to while the kids ran around the backyard.  I'm not sure if "..while the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie, that'a amore" actually made the smoke better, but it certainly served to put a smile on my face while watching the kids have fun.  

About midway through the smoke my now 6-year old son Ethan asked if he could play with his new set of golf clubs he got for his birthday last week, so we retrieved them from the trunk of my car and he set to hitting a few balls.  I'm no dummy, golf, cigars, hmmmm.  The next thing I knew I was in the far with him chipping his balls back to where he was hitting from using the little sand wedge that came in his set.  He was having a blast and I realized that given how low maintenance the Estillo Cubano was, this is definitely a cigar you could golf with with little fear of it extinguishing itself each time you put it down to golf (if putting down your cigar to golf is your thing (it's not mine!)).

As I sat back down to enjoy the final third of the cigar I was impressed with the flavor development.  The pepper was still there and the dominant however a subtle underlying sweetness had come into play, and sipping on the wine actually served to fully develop that flavor and bring the cigar to a pleasing finish.

As time marched on the need to wrap up the evening and get the kids ready for bed arrived, and a final draw allowed me to bid farewell to a well done smoke.  This cigar will definitely be in my future, I know this for a fact as another one awaits me in the humidor as we speak.  I don't know what the price point is on this stick as I have previously stated I got it for free, but I am certain it is a tremendous bargain offering a great smoking experience for someone who enjoys spice in their smoke.  I would certainly encourage you to give it a try, who knows, it may make it into your regular rotation as well.

Until we meet again...