Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is tan and very rustic looking as there are a couple of prominent raised veins and then a network of smaller veins visible. The seams are hard to detect and the head is finished off with three well adhered caps. The band is the traditional company band used on all their cigars which has no designation of the line. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of wood and slightly sweet hay. The foot brings more wood along with a faint stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw is all sweet hay.

First Third

The cigar begins with a slightly charred wood and a mild baking spice. At a half inch in, the baking spice is increasing to create a better mix with the slightly charred wood. At an inch in, the retrohale is quite heavy with the baking spice providing a nice zing through my nostrils. At an inch and a half, some cream has joined in which smooths out the baking spice. As the third comes to a close, the profile is slight charred wood and mild amounts of cream and baking spice. The strength in this third was mild-medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the cream increases slightly as the char disappears from the wood. At three quarters of an inch in, a slight bitterness joins the profile of wood, cream and baking spice. The retrohale carries a creamier version of this same profile but no bitterness. At an inch and a half, the bitterness begins to increase, becoming even with the wood while the cream and baking spice are very faint in the background. As the third comes to a close, the bitterness has settled way down while the wood and cream are now up front and the baking spice has left the profile. The strength in this third bumped up to medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, a bit of a red pepper spice is present along with the wood, cream and slight bitterness. At a quarter inch in, the red pepper is gone as some mustiness joins in with the wood, cream and bitterness. At an inch in, the mustiness has taken the lead in the profile over the wood. The retrohale also shows the mustiness in the lead. At an inch and a half, some char comes back to the wood which knocks down the mustiness a bit. The retrohale is charred wood and cream. The strength in this third remained at medium.

Burn

The burn was perfect through the first half and then required two re-lights in the second half. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

Being the second vitola I’ve reviewed, I was curious to see if this would differ from the first, but it was pretty much the same. A good flavor profile in the first third, then becoming average the rest of the way. Flavors focused around wood and cream with some bitterness and mustiness joining in midway. Construction was pretty good aside from a couple of re-lights. The Debonaire Daybreak Toro fits in with the large volume of average Connecticuts. With this having a higher price point, it makes it tougher to want to revisit based on the results.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.26

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: Debonaire Daybreak Toro