H Upmann Hispaniola Toro by Jose Mendez 10/13/19

Appearance

A light brown colored wrapper with a satiny smooth surface on the front and a few prominent veins on the back. The seams are tightly wrapped and there is a nice oil sheen. The filler bunch is well packed with no apparent soft spots.

Aroma

Barnyard and tobacco on the wrapper. Sugary fruit, cream and spice at the foot.

Prelight Draw

Sugary fruit, buttery toast, cedar, dry roasted unsalted peanuts and white pepper spice.

1st

The initial draws bring notes of sour lemon. Wow! I can say I’ve never had a cigar start like that before. The next group of draws produced no sour notes. The draw is perfect. Cedar notes get the profile going. Peanut butter notes join the profile. Think very peanutty while at the same time a creamy, thick,buttery flavor. Peanut butter. The profile is wrapped in a leathery texture. The ash is medium gray and stacked with a bit of flake. Notes of spice begin to develop. The burn is a bit wavy. Though it was looking very suspect the ash held until removal.

2nd

The strength and body are at medium. Smoke production is at the medium range. In the 1st/3rd the blend left the palate mostly dry while just into the 2nd/3rd it is causing good salivation. I notice that the Ligero cone is off center causing the uneven burn. The smoke production is now at the low end of high range. With the help of simple physics the burn line has fully self corrected at just past the midway point of the cigar. I ash at this point which reveals a double wide 1/8” tunnel. The finish is long with notes of cedar, peanut butter, white pepper spice with a dash of black pepper all wrapped in a leathery texture. The tunnel has ended. A perfect amount of gomma was used to secure the bands as there was no damage when I removed them.

Final/3rd

The white & black pepper spice notes are now equal. The ligero cone has moved back to center. Just before getting to the nub the black pepper spice began to dominate the profile.

Overall

The H Upmann Hispaniola Toro by Jose Mendez provides an enjoyable smoking experience. A well balanced and flavorful profile with a perfect draw and mildly erratic burn.