Quick Smoke: Casa Magna Colorado Gran Toro
8 Mar 2009
Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar.
This 6 inch by 56 ring gauge cigar, an all Nicaraguan puro, is the result of a joint effort by Manuel Quesada and Nestor Plascencia. It is wrapped in an appealing dark red Criollo ’98 viso wrapper that Quesada calls Colorado. Construction is almost perfect with only a small bump in the wrapper visible just below the band, and the taste offers up a creamy earth flavor at first that is slowly replaced with cedar and a hint of caramel sweetness. The finish lingers on the palate. With the Robusto in this line garnering “Cigar of the Year” for 2008 from Cigar Aficionado this blend has a lot to live up to. The Gran Toro has great flavors and construction with only the one burn problem, and at less than $6 per stick it’s a great value.
Verdict = Buy.
photo credit: Stogie Guys
I guess my tastes run a little different from Patrick M. I found this cigar to be a pretty bland cigar and a bit disaappointing for me. Maybe I just had a bad one but I won't rush out to try another.
I found this cigar to be exactly as Patrick M described. Thanks for the review.
The first of these I had was one of two I picked up at the Big Smoke Vegas in November. It was dominated by an ammonia flavor. I let the other sit for the last 5 months and had it last night–much better! Maybe not my favorite cigar of the moment, but I definitely start to see why it got an outstanding score from CA.