Pre-light Experience

Seth: The AJ Fernandez Amar Torito is a good looking cigar. It sports a wrapper between Claro and Natural and has this golden hay coloring. The cigar is firm throughout with small to medium sized veins. It’s firm in hand with aromas of tobacco, barnyard, warm spices, hay and wood.
John: The AJ Fernandez Amar Torito has a Colorado-colored wrapper and appears to be a Churchill vitola. I weighed the cigar at 15.0 grams and measured the humidity at 62.2% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included baking spices, wood and tobacco. From the foot, I was getting sweet tobacco, hay and wood.
Jiunn: The AJ Fernandez Amar Torito has an even Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give barnyard and cedar wood.

AJ Fernandez Amar Torito

First Third

Seth: The cigar begins by delivering lovely cedar, cream, tobacco and faint earth notes. There are some honey qualities as well, and it is smooth while smoking at a medium level in strength and body.
John: The first third gets going with a combination of bread, sweet tobacco, baking spices and wood. I find all of the flavor components to be present at roughly equal strength. Through the retrohale, the wood and baking spices intensify to just under medium strength. Lingering baking spices and wood remain between each puff at light plus strength. Tannic wood begins to define the post draw as the cigar moves towards the halfway point of the first third.
Jiunn: The first third is highly earthy with prominent dirt and soil. It’s as if I can really taste the graininess of the terroir. But it’s not just earthy as there is richness in barnyard and naturally sweet creaminess. Retrohaling gives fairly fierce dried red pepper spice. The finish is dry and leathery with the same dirt soil vibe. Strength and body is medium.

AJ Fernandez Amar Torito

Second Third

Seth: The second third is like the first. Cream and honey notes are more pronounced, and I am getting some black coffee notes with the cedar, earth and tobacco. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The second third starts with creamy baking spices followed by tannic wood, which transitions into dry tannic wood through the finish and post draw. As the cigar continues towards the halfway point of the second third, the profile remains largely consistent. The primary change is the baking spices in the post draw increasing to just over medium strength. Mild bitterness joins the wood through the finish in the bottom half of the second third.
Jiunn: In addition to the dirt soil earthiness, sweet cream and dried red pepper spice, the second third picks up balanced tannins and anise. Further, the sweet cream is fuller, allowing the richness of the flavors to shine that much more. Strength and body remains medium.

AJ Fernandez Amar Torito

Final Third

Seth: The final third is identical to that of the second. Same solid flavors with a nice cream and honey finish with some cedar notes. Medium in strength and body.
John: The last third starts with creamy, tannic wood combining with medium strength baking spices, while the finish is defined by sharp tannic wood. The baking spices continue through the post draw. The sharp, bitter wood on the finish picks up in intensity to medium strength as the last third continues. Earth notes move into the post draw through the bottom half of the final third.
Jiunn: Unfortunately, the final third is less enjoyable as bitter minerals doom the other flavors. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

AJ Fernandez Amar Torito

Burn

Seth: The cigar had a perfect burn from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the first third before becoming uneven in the second third. It returned to being relatively straight through the final third without requiring any intervention.
Jiunn: Burn performance was perfect, giving an even burn, tight ashes, cool burning temperatures and ample smoke production.

AJ Fernandez Amar Torito

Draw

Seth: The cigar had an amazing draw from beginning to end.
John: The draw measured 54 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it started between two and two-and-a-half notches towards the resistant spectrum. As the cigar progressed through the first third, the draw opened to between one-and-a-half and two notches towards the resistant spectrum, improving the smoking experience enough to earn a Very Good draw rating.
Jiunn: The draw was also perfect, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The AJ Fernandez Amar Torito is an average cigar. It’s enjoyable, but not what I look for in a cigar overall. It needs more complexity and depth. The construction was simply amazing, and I enjoyed the honey and cream flavors, but I need more from the cigar.
John: The AJ Fernandez Amar Torito opened with a balanced combination of bread, sweet tobacco, baking spices and wood, with each component contributing equally to the profile. The restrained increase in baking spice intensity through the retrohale added some welcome character during the first third, while the gradual emergence of tannic wood hinted at the direction the cigar would ultimately take. As the cigar progressed into the second third, the profile became increasingly centered on tannic wood and baking spices. Although the baking spices gained a bit of strength through the post draw, the overall profile remained fairly static, with only mild bitterness beginning to creep into the finish. The final third marked a noticeable decline as sharp tannic wood and bitterness became the dominant characteristics, supported by earth through the post draw. By this point, the sweetness and balance that made the opening third enjoyable had largely disappeared. Construction was a strong point throughout the smoking experience. Aside from some unevenness in the second third that corrected itself, the burn performed exceptionally well, and the draw improved steadily after the opening portion of the cigar, finishing comfortably within the ideal range. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Jiunn: I’m sort of battling myself with this AJ Fernandez Amar Torito. Typically, I have a strong dislike for highly earthy (dirt/soil) type cigars. But even though this cigar had that, there was a richness in other flavors (spice, sweetness, barnyard) that kept me engaged in every draw. Given this, I want to smoke more in the hopes of finding consistency.

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.10

Cost/Point

$1.75

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$1.91

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$1.57

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: AJ Fernandez Amar Torito