Pre-light Experience

A very interesting looking vitola as it has a long taper for the torpedo head and just under 3 inches of length for the full ring gauge of the cigar. It almost looks like someone just chopped off two inches from the bottom of the cigar. The wrapper is a lighter brown and has a couple of slightly raised veins present. The seams are well blended and hard to detect and the torpedo head is very well done. There are two bands with the primary being the newer style bands for the brand in a multitude of oranges with the logo in silver. The secondary band is a strip band also in orange and represents the Fogata delineation. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of wood and hay while the foot brings more wood and a hint of anise. The pre-light draw consists of leather, wood and a very mild spice on my lips.

First Third

The cigar begins with a mix of spicy cedar and black pepper. At a quarter inch in, a slight cream note joins in to mix with the cedar and pepper. At a half inch in, the cream becomes very faint as the spicy cedar and black pepper are working at even levels. The retrohale is fairly peppery but also carries a bit of cream. As the third comes to a close, the spicy cedar and black pepper remain even with a faint amount of cream in the background. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the cedar and pepper become a bit fuller as there is an addition of a slight bitterness to the profile. At a quarter inch in, some cream returns to the profile. At a half inch in, some mustiness joins in with the cream and bitterness in the background as the spicy cedar and black pepper remain up front. The retrohale is musty cedar along with a bit of black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the profile is cedar and pepper up front with cream, mustiness and a slight bitterness in the background. The strength remained at slightly above medium.

Final Third

The final third is all in the tapered head, so it’s a fairly short smoking time. The profile picks up a slight char to go with the cedar as the black pepper dials back quite a bit. The cream disappears as the mustiness and slight bitterness remain. The strength in this third dropped down to be right at medium.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy and I had to perform two touch-ups to keep things from getting too far off. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Draw

The draw had the perfect amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

This is an interesting vitola to smoke as it seems like it burns pretty fast based on the short length and the amount of taper. The last third is hard to really report on as it’s all taper and you can’t truly get all the way through it before you have to set it down. The flavors were focused around spicy cedar and black pepper and had some cream, mustiness and a slight bitterness mixed in. Other than a couple of touch-ups, the construction was very good. The wrapper is fairly fragile and the bands had a good amount of glue that caused some parts to come off though the cigar wasn’t too worse for wear. If you’re a fan of the Fogata line and want a quick smoke, this might be right up your alley, but for me, I’d prefer a little bit longer vitola to really see what this blend can do.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.07

Cost/Point

$1.47

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: AVO Syncro Nicaragua Fogata Short Torpedo