Experience: La Flor de Las Antillas 'Toro'. Number One Cigar in 2012 and Still as Good as Back Then.
La Flor de Las Antillas 'Toro' was ranked by Cigar Aficionado as the number one cigar for 2012 made by the renowned Nicaraguan cigar company My Father Cigars S.A. which is owned and lead by acclaimed Cuban cigar maker José 'Pepin' Garcia, his son Jaime and daughter Janny. My Father Cigars is a company that started as a small family operation out of Miami with a dozen rollers that slowly grew into one of the most prominent cigar makers establishing their factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. This company is also well known for being the manufacturers of Tatuaje when that brand was first started by Pete Johnson. This amazing cigar, released in May of 2012, is fully made of Nicaraguan leaves and was named in honor of Cuba sometimes referred to as 'La Flor de Las Antillas' as Cuba is the largest island of all Antilles Islands —'Antillas' in Spanish.
La Flor de Las Antillas 'Toro' measures 6" in length with a 52 ring gauge. This cigar is perfectly rolled with a rounded box press shape and a beautiful mature colored wrapper. As soon as you light up this cigar, you will get notes of nutmeg, pepper and caramel. As you start puffing, you'll notice the complexity of this fine cigar and how it starts to evolve and vary in taste and smell every 5 minutes or so.
Rated with 96 points on a scale of a 100 by Cigar Aficionado, this cigar will exceed your expectations. Complex, robust and with a very even burn, this cigar has one of the longest and firmest ashes we've seen in cigars that are not Cuban. As you smoke the first third of the cigar, you will notice how the flavor evolves completely to a very smooth and creamy cigar followed by a more leathery and intense flavor towards the last third.
The burning time on this cigar is approximately 55-65 minutes with an occasional burnout at the beginning —probably our fault as we were distracted contemplating the dial of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Quantieme Perpetuel on our wrist. The long ash will hold up nice and steady for the first half. This cigar has a perfect draw and delivers way above its 96 points.
For more info on La Flor de Las Antillas and My Father Cigars click here.