Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro has a good pre-light experience. The wrapper sports this dark Natural color, and there are small to medium sized veins present throughout the cigar. The aromas are that of musty wood, barnyard, tobacco and spices. It’s a firm cigar in hand, and while the wrapper is darker, it has an aroma that makes it seem more approachable.
John: The Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro has a Colorado Maduro colored wrapper and appears to be a Toro vitola. I weighed the cigar at 16.6 grams and measured the humidity at 63.4% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included fresh, dry wood with faint mustiness underneath. From the foot, I was largely getting a combination of earth and mustiness, with some vegetal components subtly underneath.
Jiunn: The Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro has a near Colorado maduro wrapper shade. The wrapper quality feels and looks good, giving a natural uniform look and good oil content. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give abundant barnyard and cedar wood.

Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro

First Third

Seth: The first third begins by delivering some musty earth with barnyard notes. Some spices are present with tobacco, but there is little complexity. Touches of wood, but nothing with depth. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third gets going with sweet tobacco leading, with wood and restrained spices making up the center. Those same spices come through in the post draw after a short delay. A couple of puffs in, the tobacco takes on a rich maltiness through the retrohale. As the first third begins to settle in, some nice creaminess develops at the front of the profile, providing a very satisfying mouthfeel. Savory wood settles into the post draw as the first third continues towards the halfway point. Earth notes at light plus strength move into the finish as the cigar approaches the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third gives a pleasant round of flavors centered around mixed nuts, cafe au lait and zippy red pepper spice. Retrohaling has greater red pepper spice and sweet and creamy mixed nuts. The finish shows lingering cedar wood. Strength and body is medium.

Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro

Second Third

Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Barnyard, musty earth, tobacco and wood notes. Some warm spices here and there. Medium in strength and body.
John: The cigar moves into the second third with sweet and spicy tobacco leading off and malty, dry wood following. There are undertones of malty sweetness and dry wood in the center that linger into the post draw, where they are joined by delayed spices. Earthy notes remain on the finish and begin to linger into the post draw as the second third continues. As the cigar approaches the halfway point of the second third, the strength of the cigar is really hitting home, moving over medium and approaching medium plus. Through the bottom half of the second third, the earth in the post draw takes over and provides a counterpoint to the sweet and spicy tobacco leading off.
Jiunn: The second third is still sweet and creamy with cafe au lait and minerals pairing the sweet creaminess. The finish is starting to get slightly tannic off the cedar wood. Strength and body is still medium.

Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro

Final Third

Seth: The final third is right in line with the first and second. I am ready for this cigar to be over. Medium strength and body. Again, not a bad cigar, but I need something with my cigars.
John: Into the last third, sweet and spicy tobacco is still leading off, although it is a step down in intensity. Sweet wood makes up the center, with wood and earth combining through the finish and the earth taking over as it moves into the post draw. As the final third settles in, the baking spices move up in strength to just under medium-full. By the halfway point of the final third, the sweetness has largely faded and the earth component has moved to the front of the profile. There is a smoked quality to the tobacco in the center of the profile as the cigar progresses through the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third shows a drop in sweet cream and picks up more tannic cedar wood and minerals. The coffee notes are also starting to take a slight dip as well. Strength and body finishes medium.

Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro

Burn

Seth: The burn is perfect from beginning to end.
John: The burn started out straight in the first third, with the ash holding on firmly. The burn became mildly uneven in the second third, eventually forming a canoe which required a touch-up to correct. The burn was wavy through the last third.
Jiunn: Burn performance was solid, providing an even burn, tight ashes, cool burning temperatures and ample smoke production.

Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro

Draw

Seth: The draw is great throughout the cigar.
John: The draw measured 48 inches of water on the Cigar Medics draw tester. Subjectively, it was at most a half to one notch towards the resistant spectrum, which put it in the ideal range between open and resistant.
Jiunn: The draw was slightly snug but it didn’t impact the flavor delivery at all.

Overall

Seth: The Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro is an average cigar. It’s not offensive, but it’s not wowing. The highlight of the cigar is the pre-light appearance. The construction is fantastic, so there are no issues there, but the flavor profile is flat and lacking. Knowing myself as a cigar smoker, I can see myself forgetting about this cigar the day after smoking it. There’s nothing really here.
John: Blind Cigar #1585 started out with a satisfying and well-balanced combination of sweet tobacco, wood and restrained spices. The maltiness and creaminess that developed early in the first third added some welcome depth and gave the profile an enjoyable mouthfeel. I particularly enjoyed how the savory wood and light earth components developed as the first third progressed. The profile lost some of that complexity moving into the second third, although the sweet and spicy tobacco continued to provide a solid foundation. Earth steadily increased through the post draw and eventually became the dominant flavor component. At the same time, the strength climbed to over medium and approached medium plus, making the cigar feel considerably more assertive. By the last third, much of the sweetness had faded and earth was firmly driving the profile. The increase in baking spices provided some additional intensity, while a smoked tobacco quality added another layer through the bottom half. Overall, the first third of the Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro was easily the highlight for me, with the remainder of the cigar settling into a more earth-forward and less dynamic profile. Construction was generally very good outside of the canoe requiring a touch-up, while the draw was perfect. Total smoking time was 2 hours on the nose.
Jiunn: I truly enjoyed the first half of the Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro. The flavor profile was well rounded and very approachable, being abundantly sweet and creamy with added spice and minerals. But unfortunately, the latter half was a bit too tannic in wood and minerals.

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$1.96

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$1.83

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.30

Cost/Point

$1.74

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Alec Bradley Thirty Years Toro