Coy Toy: Padilla Habano Toro

I really get a kick sometimes out of going on the web to see what the distributors have to say about any given cigar I just smoked. For example, the Padilla Habano Toro.

Everything Cigars International has to say about the this particular cigar is wrong.

"A complex core of rich, toasty flavors..." Wrong. It has pleasant but rather one-dimensional, medium-bodied dusty or oaky flavor.

"... boasting eventful nuances of coffee and bittersweet cocoa": Blather. It is a straightforward tobacco experience, somewhat on the chalky side, which I personally don't mind.

"...topped off by a subtle touch of pepper on the finish.": Hardly. This is not a peppery cigar. If anything, it is slightly woody.

And finally: "The smoke is slow-burning and medium in body." Absolutely not. This is a fast-burning cigar that threatens to go out unless you puff on it every 30 seconds.

Actually, one part of the C.I. blurb is right: "medium in body." I gotta hand it to those creative marketing fellas at Cigars International. They sure know how to come up with a hundred different ways to describe three or four basic types of cigars.

To make this long-winded review short: The Padilla Habano Toro is a decent cigar that burns OK, tastes decent but not extraordinary, and probably costs a bit too much. It has a few moments of excitement in the middle, but never quite provides the ecstatic burst of flavor that it hints at. It toys with you, but doesn't quite deliver.

Remotely similar to:
El Rey del Mundo
Indian Tabac Candela toro
Oliva Series V robusto
Quintero Churchill