Cigar Review: Toraño Family Single Region Serie Jalapa

Single Region Serie Jalapa (Left) picture with
another new release -the Brigade (Right)

Back at the 2010 IPCPR, one of my most exciting visits was to the Toraño Family Cigar booth.   During that visit, I saw a lot of energy and excitement around the recent re-branding of the company and the new releases that were due for 2010.   One release that was of particular interest to me was the "Single Region Serie Jalapa".  One observation I have noticed - 2010 is the year of Nicaraguan tobacco.   It seems that many releases this year are opting for the boldness that tobacco from this country has to offer.   The Single Region Serie Jalapa takes advantage of this tobacco - and the result is a very satisfying stick to enjoy.

When the Single Region was released, Toraño Family Cigars released the following statement:

"The concept highlights the different characteristics of tobaccos grown on individual farms in various regions in the world’s best tobacco-producing countries. Each Serie will feature a blend that is created entirely from tobaccos grown on one carefully selected finca in one particular region.  The blend’s flavor and aroma will reflect the influence of the region’s soil, weather and topography."

The first region selected for this serie was the Jalapa region.  Cigar enthusiasts know full well the quality of the tobacco from this region.   Being that the tobaccos are from a single region, the composition of this cigar is pretty simple:

Wrapper: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
Binder: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)

A note on the wrapper - it has a beautiful reddish Colorado look to it.   It really makes the cigar stand out.  I truly would classify this as "Cigar Art".

There are three sizes available for this stick:
Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 x 54
Churchill: 7 x 50

For this review, I opted to smoke the Robusto.   For this stick, I placed a punch in the cap, toasted the foot and prepared to enjoy this smoke.

The initial taste of this cigar produced what I considered a wonderful syrup-like flavor.  Barry at A Cigar Smoker's Journal mentioned a maple syrup taste, but to me it had more of a light karo syrup type of taste.  I found the initial syrup-like sweetness to be pleasant and not like the sugary taste many infused cigars produce.  There was also some cedar like spice to this, but the spice will never be overpowering.

After about 1/3 of the smoke, the syrup-like sweetness will definitely fade.  Some more traditional cigar flavor notes such as Oak and Leather (yes, I'm getting the hang of identifying leather flavors now).   At the same time, I felt the subtle cedar spice tones from the first third remained.  This part of the smoke had a wonderful old school feel to it.   I felt that this flavor profile went into the final third.   I saw a slight return of sweetness in the final third - but this was subtle as well.  This sweetness had more of a hint of mild chocolate.   The finish to the cigar was cool and firm.   The ending was not harsh.  Overall, very much a medium strength and medium body to this cigar

I must make a complement to the draw and the burn.  I've heard several folks talk about the razor sharp burn of this stick - and I couldn't agree more.  I've had several of these sticks and each one has been a joy to smoke.   During IPCPR, I also happened to smoke the Single Region for the first time - and an all-time long-ash on this cigar.  The important thing here is - despite this long-ash, the smoke was not harsh and still enjoyable.

An all-time Long Ash from IPCPR

A couple of nice points to note is that this cigar will only be available through local retailers, and it will be priced in the "value priced" range of $5.00-$7.00.  Overall, the Single Region is a terrific cigar.  I love the concept introduced by the Toraño Family - and I'm glad they are energized about what they produced this year.  I also cannot wait to see the next edition in this Serie:

Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Assessment: Nice to Have