Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro is light brown with a green tinge in some areas. There are some slightly raised and knotty veins present and the seams are easily visible as they are slightly raised as well. The foot is covered by folded over wrapper and the head is finished off with a well applied set of caps. There are three bands, with the primary carrying the line name and an image of a tobacco field with a border of copper and black. The secondary and foot bands both carry the copper and black color combination. The secondary band carries the FSG logo to differentiate this from the initial release from this line. The foot band designates the company name. The aroma from the wrapper is fairly light but brings a wood forward barnyard note. Even though the foot is covered by folded over wrapper, I get a distinct Spanish cedar note from it. The pre-light draw is also an abundance of Spanish cedar.

Pre-light Experience

The Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro is pretty in hand and has a nice wrapper that is Colorado in coloring. There are small to medium sized veins present throughout and I am picking up aromas of sweet spices, bread, roasted nuts, musty wood and earth. It is firm in hand and I like the closed foot.

Pre-light Experience

The Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro seems to check all the pre-light boxes there are. The cigar is triple banded with a primary Finca Sante Fe band, secondary FSG band and lastly a Cordoba and Morales foot band. The cigar also has a closed foot design. Aromas from the cigar include a musty vegetal with aged wood underneath. It’s a stretch to get anything from the closed foot, I might have picked up hay.

Pre-light Experience

The Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro has a light caramel Colorado Claro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight but visible, bunch and roll even and head finished off with triple wrap. Nosing the wrapper and enclosed foot tells quality humidor cedar. Cold draw reveals muted cedar and nuts.

First Third

The cigar begins with a mix of cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At a half inch in, a light mustiness joins the profile. The retrohale consists of a slightly bright wood and light mustiness. At an inch in, the pepper increases a bit in fullness but has a bit of a dull character. As the third comes to a close, the cedar and earth are slightly ahead of the mustiness and black pepper. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

First Third

The first third begins by delivering a flavor profile that is showcasing some musty wood and earth qualities with some faint tobacco, red pepper and citrus qualities. The finish has this cedar profile and it is medium in strength, body and flavors.

First Third

Hay, cedar and a delayed sweetness start the first third. A delayed cedar appears on the post draw some time after the draw is finished. Baking spices, and a mustiness make up the retrohale, with a vegetal note coming through in the middle of the retrohale as the first third progresses. Light baking spices join the retrohale shortly after. Mild cocoa joins the flavor medley by the 30 minute mark, approximately. In the bottom half, the light vegetal component moves into the middle of the flavor profile as well.

First Third

The first third is medium strength and body with buttered bread, roasted nuts and barnyard must. Retrohaling brings increased roasted nuttiness and a nice red pepper spice pop. The finish has a red pepper zing on the rear palate and tongue.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the cedar, earth, black pepper and mustiness are all even. At a half inch in, the cedar morphs into a general wood note and gains some char while the black pepper has become very light. The retrohale is now musty wood. At an inch and a half in, the musty and lightly charred wood is up front with the earth slightly behind and the black pepper having departed. The strength in this third remained at slightly above medium.

Second Third

When I get into the second third, I see a rise in the red pepper spice notes, and it is pairing well with the musty wood, tobacco, earth and bread notes. The finish has this citrus cedar quality and it is medium in strength, body and flavors.

Second Third

Powdered cocoa and wood on the retrohale, finishing with a lingering wood into the post draw. Vegetal comes through on the retrohale middle as the second third starts to settle in. Cocoa moves to the front of the retrohale some time later. The second third continues to evolve and harmonize, as sour citrus joins at a light plus level.

Second Third

The second third shows the red pepper spice zing increase while at the same time maintaining the softer, creamier notes of buttered bread and roasted nuts. The red pepper spice covers more of the finish, doing a good job of coating the entire tongue in a manageable and accented manner. Strength and body remains medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the profile sees the char increase a bit and the earthiness lasts quite a while on the finish. The retrohale remains musty wood. At three quarters of an inch in, the char lightens up a bit. At an inch and a quarter, the char picks up and is a bit higher than when the third started. As the cigar comes to a close, the profile is musty and charred wood with the earthiness right behind. The strength in this third bumped up to medium-full.

Final Third

I am in the final third now and getting notes of bread, musty wood, earth, red pepper, citrus and cedar. Like before, the cigar is smoking at a medium level for strength, body and flavors.

Final Third

Citrus and musty cedar on the retrohale as the last third kicks off. Post draw citrus and cedar combine almost immediately. A mid profile cedar starts to settle and linger between draws.

Final Third

The final third is identical to the second third. Still medium strength and body with a nice red pepper zing, buttered bread, roasted nuts and barnyard must.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy throughout and required two quick touch-ups to keep things burning in unison. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

The burn was poor from start to finish. Very wavy burn line and simply uneven throughout.

Burn

The burn is flawless with the ash holding on firmly up to 2 inch increments.

Burn

Burn performance was overall very good. I just had to use my lighter once for a quick touch-up to get the burn on track. Relatively even burn, solid ashes, ample smoke production and cool burning temperature.

Draw

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

Overall

The cigar began with a mix of cedar, earth and mild black pepper. Some mustiness joined in fairly quickly. The second third saw the cedar morph into a general wood note and gain some char. The black pepper dropped out near the end of the third. The final third saw the char pick up a fair amount. The construction was pretty good aside from a couple of touch-ups and strength was slightly above medium most of the way. The Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro had a nice start, but as the char joined in the second third, the profile became average the rest of the way. I was very interested in smoking this cigar as I enjoyed the original quite a bit. I didn’t really notice anything from the rum barrel aging and I’m not sure the FSG binder really helped the blend all that much. This cigar carries a hefty price tag, so I would suggest trying one to see what you think. If you’re a fan of FSG tobacco, it might be something you enjoy, but at this price, I’m not quite sure I’d return to this one.

Draw

Despite the poor burn line, the draw was lovely from beginning to end.

Overall

I enjoyed the Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro. I liked the flavor profile it delivered and the complexity that was present throughout. You could pick up the FSG tobacco flavor profile in the blend and the medium strength and body helped in focusing on the flavors. I was incredibly disappointed with the burn on the cigar, and it hurt the score of the cigar, but that would not prevent or discourage me from smoking the cigar again. The price on the other hand is a little much and would prevent me from picking these up down the road. Definitely worth smoking, especially if you are a fan of FSG tobacco, but nothing wowing.

Draw

The draw is right in the ideal zone of resistance.

Overall

The Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro was a consistently good experience from start to finish, illustrating some of the best aspects of Florida Sun Grown tobacco. The list of flavors included hay, cedar, baking spices, vegetal, cocoa, mustiness, sour citrus and musty cedar. I’m lookong forward to smoking more Finca Santa Fe FSGs in the near future. The draw and construction were both perfect. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 52 minutes.

Draw

The draw was perfect, striking the ideal air flow.

Overall

The Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro a great blend from Azarias. Full flavored with medium strength, producing a nice red pepper zing, buttered bread, roasted nuts and barnyard must. According to Azarias, this blend calls back to the good days of Cuban cigars (in which I totally agree with). The only let down is the steep $23 price point, so it’ll have to be more of a special occasion cigar for me.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$4.00

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.27

Cost/Point

$3.67

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

7.17

Cost/Point

$3.21

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

7.07

Cost/Point

$3.25

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Córdoba & Morales Finca Santa Fe FSG Toro