Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is quite rustic looking with a splotchy, light brown coloring and some raised veins along with some wrinkles. The seams are easily visible as they are slightly raised while the head is finished off with a double cap. The band is black with some red outlining for this line and displays the name of the line and designates Sweet on one side of the back side of the band. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of wood and hay while the foot brings more wood along with some leather. The pre-light draw brings a light wood, but the thing to note and what is significant about this line is the flavor applied to the cap. The flavoring consist of some sweetness and some barbecue type spiciness.

Pre-light Experience

The Factory Smokes Sweets by Drew Estate Toro has a fairly rustic looking wrapper, with veins bulging at several points. The band is fairly generic, but better looking than what I see out of a lot of bundle style cigars. The wrapper noses of barnyard and cedar. In the foot, I get sweet tobacco and hay.

First Third

The cigar begins with some peppery and creamy wood along with the sweet and spicy flavoring from the wrapper. At a half inch in, the pepper and cream have faded away as some mustiness has joined in to pair with the wood. The flavoring from the cap is more subtle and just pops in here and there on various draws or when I lick my lips. At an inch in, a slight black pepper returns to the profile. The retrohale is a very light and creamy wood. As the third comes to a close, it is still musty and peppery wood with the addition of flavoring from the cap. The strength in this third was mild.

First Third

The first few puffs consist of an undefined sweetness, which I then immediately recognize as a sugary sweet tip. The interesting thing is that the sweet tip is not overwhelming, and it doesn’t have that ‘artificial’ quality that I have come to associate with sweet tips. A few more puffs in and some cedar flavors begin to define themselves on the retrohale, along with some post draw pepper that lingers at the back of the throat. As the cigar starts to settle in, the sweet tip takes on a vanilla character, along with some light hay flavors. That undefined sweetness eventually joins in the retrohale, as the sweet tip and vanilla falls to a light plus.

Second Third

As the second third begins, some cream rejoins the profile of musty and peppery wood. At a half inch in, the black pepper increases a bit, creating a pleasant pepper bite to the profile. The retrohale is quite creamy along with some peppery wood. The barbecue spice flavoring plays pretty well with the wood and pepper from the tobacco. At an inch in, the cream leaves the profile creating a slightly drying profile of musty wood as the black pepper is fairly mild now. The retrohale is now just musty wood. As the third comes to a close, the profile is now just musty wood along with the intermittent flavoring from the cap while the black pepper has dropped out. The strength in this third bumped up to mild-medium.

Second Third

The hay flavors pick up in intensity moving into the middle third. Some nuttiness joins into the flavor mix, as the overall flavors seem more balanced. The sweet tip has faded into the background by this point and is almost undetectable.

Final Third

As the final third begins, it continues on with the slightly dry musty wood profile. The flavor from the cap is still there but not as prominent as before and really only noticeable when I lick my lips. At an inch in, some cream returns to the profile but it is overall still a bit drying. As the cigar comes to a close, it begins to heat up, bringing some mintiness to the profile of musty wood. The strength in this third bumped up to medium.

Final Third

The profile is defined by hay and cedar on the retrohale, finishing with mild sweetness. The cedar starts to fall off as the last third establishes itself, and a creamy flavor takes its place. Immediately after, a medium strength bitterness seems to take over the cigar and remains for the rest of the smoking experience.

Burn

The burn was slightly wavy throughout but never needed any attention. The ash held on in one inch increments.

Burn

A wavy burn throughout the smoking experience, with touch-ups in the first and middle thirds. Ash held on in half inch increments.

Draw

The draw was perfect through the first half of the cigar and then became slightly loose.

Overall

This Factory Smokes Sweets by Drew Estate Toro has everything going against it in the eyes of the premium smoker. A $2 cigar with a flavored cap. I thought the flavor profile was good through the first half of the cigar with peppery and creamy wood. Even the flavoring added to the cigar was kind of enjoyable. It wasn’t something I felt was cloying or took away enjoyment. With that being said, there was definitely a drop off at the halfway point where it became quite average. Construction was very good and needed no attention and strength never got above medium. I would have to smoke more to judge the consistency, but even if it’s a cigar you smoke halfway through and toss it, it’s still well worth the price. I’m very interested in trying the other variations of the Factory Smokes to see if they can earn above their cost.

Draw

The draw is in the ideal zone, and leans towards the open spectrum.

Overall

The Factory Smokes Sweets by Drew Estate Toro isn’t going to set any records for flavor complexity, but it didn’t set out to do that. What it does do is provide an acceptable smoking experience at an absurdly affordable price. Although I could do without the sweet tip, it was refreshing not having that artificial flavor that I find so off putting with most sweet tip cigars I’ve smoked.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.50

Cost/Point

$0.38

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.20

Cost/Point

$0.40

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Factory Smokes Sweets by Drew Estate Toro