Pre-light Experience

A very dark brown wrapper with a couple of medium sized veins. The seams are nearly invisible due to the color consistency and smoothness. There appear to be three very well applied caps with the top cap finished with a twist that is broken off. The band is interesting as it is metallic blue, silver, red and black. The main graphic is a pair of over the ear headphones and has the brand and line name along with the year, 2016. The aroma from the wrapper is a very light hay. The foot gives a decent dose of leather. The pre-light draw provides a good amount of sweet hay along with a spicy tingle on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Emilio Cavatina Toro has a thick, semi-oily maduro shade wrapper. Veins are well pressed and seams although visible, are tight. The cigar is packed full of tobacco with essentially no give. The head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. Nosing the wrapper gives sharp cedar, slight barnyard and floral notes. Nosing the foot gives black pepper and sweet nuttiness. Cold draw tells dry oak and black pepper spice on the lips and tip of the tongue.

First Third

Creamy cocoa, wood and a high dose of spicy cinnamon is how the cigar starts off. At a quarter inch in, the cocoa goes away but the creaminess remains along with the wood and cinnamon. The retrohale is primarily a creamy wood. At three quarters of an inch in, a slight bit of cocoa comes back while the cinnamon settles down quite a bit. At an inch and a quarter, the profile becomes earthy with the cream and cocoa going away. The cinnamon from before is now black pepper in the background. The retrohale is now a milder version of the earthiness. At an inch and a half, a bit of ashiness joins in to mix with the earthiness while the pepper has gone away. This is how the third finishes. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

First Third

First third creates a relatively rustic flavor profile. Flavors of cocoa, dry earth, black pepper, creamy bread and charred oak. Through retrohaling, strong black pepper, charred wood, creamy bread and dry nuts. The finish lingers with slightly harsh charred wood, creamed nuttiness and black pepper sitting on the rear palate. In terms of strength and body, medium.

Second Third

As this third begins, the ash flavor settles down some and the earthiness is again up front. At a half inch in, a charred woodiness joins in with the earthiness. The retrohale has a pretty full earthy profile. At an inch and a half in, the earthiness relents to the woodiness which has lost much of its char. As the third comes to a close, a little bit of ashiness comes back in to the profile along with the slightly charred wood. The strength in this third is slightly above medium.

Second Third

Second third continues it’s rustic flavor profile. The black pepper spice and charred wood at times moves to the forefront, overshadowing especially the cocoa note. Still, other flavors remain (dry earth and faint creamy bread). The retrohale consists of strong black pepper, charred wood, dry nuts and bright stone fruit. The finish is still lingering with black pepper (no longer on the rear palate), charred wood and creamed nuttiness. In regards to body and strength, still at the medium mark.

Final Third

As this third begins, the ashiness has gone away and the wood gains a bit more char. There is also some black pepper again in the background. The retrohale is carrying a slightly charred wood. At an inch in, a fair amount of creaminess joins in with the charred wood and pushes the pepper out of the profile. At an inch and a quarter in, things start to warm up a bit which causes the woodiness to seem a little young as it has a bit of a bite. This is the profile the cigar finishes with. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

The last third calls for the return of the cocoa. In many ways, the profile is very similar to the first third, being less black pepper and charred wood centric. Still the same levels of dry earth and creamy bread remain. Through the nose, the bright stone fruit is absent, namely providing intense black pepper, charred wood and dry nuts. The finish mimics the second third, providing lingering notes of black pepper, charred wood and creamed nuttiness. Strength moves towards medium full, and body remains unchanged at the medium mark.

Burn

There were times where the burn was a bit wavy but it always caught up with itself. The ash held on in inch and half increments.

Burn

Great burning cigar with a total smoking time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Ashes held on fairly strong averaging one inch increments. Burn line was jagged at times, but there was never a need for re-lights or touch ups.

Draw

The draw was perfect with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer. The amount of smoke from each draw was very thick.

Overall

The cigar started out with a good flavor combination and had some good transitions and then settled into a standard profile in the second third and maintained that the rest of the way. Strength level was right around medium. This is a decent offering from Emilio and I would actually be curious to see what it would do with a year of age on it as I think the profile might meld together a little better. I would say this is worth a try if you come across it to see if it fits your profile.

Draw

The draw was flawless. A straight cut in line with the ring gauge of the cigar yielded the perfect draw.

Overall

I find the Cavatina in Toro to be overall an average cigar. The profile delivered good depths of rustic earth and some creaminess but it wasn’t enough to pull it all together, especially when the profile became a bit too charred and harsh. Also, interestingly enough, I rarely have a cigar that tastes better in the last third as compared to the earlier third(s) (last third had a better profile than the second third).

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.20

Cost/Point

$1.53

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.53

Cost/Point

$1.45

Scoring System