Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a dark chocolate brown color with a dull finish. There are a few veins visible while the seams are almost invisible. There appears to be a double cap that is well applied. The bands colors of black, gold and red work pretty well against the wrapper color. The rectangular section with the portrait and the gold embossing over some sections of the portrait for some reason seem out of place to me, but doesn’t take anything away from the cigar itself. The aroma from the wrapper is manure and earth. The foot gives a very sweet hay aroma. The pre-light draw brings that same sweet hay from the foot aroma.

Pre-light Experience

The Foundation Tabernacle Toro has a dark and rustic maduro wrapper. The wrapper shows some nice tooth spread evenly throughout the cigar. A couple minor veins are sporadically spread out. The wrapper appears neatly applied with fairly tight seams. The bunching seems a bit loose as there is quite a bit of spongy give, especially within the first half of the cigar. The head is finished off with a thick double cap. Nosing the wrapper gives sharp cedar and white pepper. Nosing the foot gives pungent white pepper, cedar and dry nuts. Cold draw tells dry cardboard, dry nuts, cedar and lip numbing white pepper spice.

First Third

Upon lighting, I’m greeted with some woodiness and coffee. After a few draws, some creaminess and a mellow black pepper join the wood and coffee. Shortly after a quarter inch, the coffee and pepper go away and the wood and cream remain. The wood and cream is also what’s present on the retrohale. At the half inch mark, the wood and cream remain, but there are hints of coffee that pop in and out. Just past the inch mark, the wood becomes more defined as cedar. There is still some creaminess and a hint of coffee. An inch and a half in, the cedar transitions to oak, the cream fades away and the coffee becomes much fuller to make the flavor profile a little darker. The retrohale consists of oak and a lighter version of the coffee. Nearing the end of the third, the coffee becomes a bit more earthy and mixes well with the oak. The strength in this third is medium.

First Third

The Tabernacle Toro from first draw has a rich, mouth salivating profile. There’s a lot going on with this cigar. Medium full body flavors of gritty earth, cocoa, medium bodied sweet cream, dry biscuits, cedar, wood bitterness, oily white pepper spice, roasted dried nuts and faint stewed fruits. Roughly an inch in, the white pepper spice ramps up, creating a deeper oily white pepper spice, absolutely caking the palate. On the retrohale, rich and oily white pepper spice, sweet cream, biscuits and cedar. The finish lingers with deep and oily white pepper spice on the tongue, wood bitterness and dried nuts. Strength starts off medium until the halfway mark, at which point becomes a consistent medium full, giving me a semi-cloudy head.

Second Third

As this third begins, it continues with the oak and earthiness from the previous third. A half inch in, the oak and earthiness are really mixing well. There is also a bit of bitterness that has joined in which is enhancing the profile. The retrohale is a toasted oak with a slight bit of earthiness on the finish. At the one inch mark, a light chocolate comes in to mix with the oak and earthiness. An inch and a half in, the chocolate has gone away and a bit of walnut has appeared to mix with the oak and earthiness. Nearing the end of the third, the walnut has gone away and the oak has become a little charred while the earthiness has also gone away. There is also a slight sweetness on the beginning of each draw. The retrohale is a slightly sweet oak. The strength in this third is slightly above medium.

Second Third

In the second third, the profile is still medium full in body and strength. The complexities and nuances die down a bit, giving me mainly gritty earth, cocoa, wood bitterness, slick and oily white pepper spice and medium bodied sweet cream. In an intermittent fashion, the wood bitterness intensifies, at times weighing heavy on my palate. Through the nose, still the same rich and oily white pepper, sweet cream, biscuits and cedar. The finish lingers with oily white pepper spice on the tongue, wood bitterness and dry nuts.

Final Third

As this third begins, the slightly charred oak continues as the sole flavor. A quarter inch in and some bitterness joins in with the charred oak. A half inch in and the bitterness really ramps up, pushing the charred oak to the background. After doing a purge right before the inch mark, the bitterness settles down some and the oak comes back to the front of the profile. An inch and a quarter in, the oak gains a toasty component. As the cigar comes to a close, the toasty oak remains with a slight bitterness in the background. The strength in this third was medium-full.

Final Third

The last thirds profile continues with a medium full body and strength experience. The once intermittent intensified wood bitterness is now a consistent note. In addition, oily white pepper spice, gritty earth, cocoa, faint sweet cream and dry roasted nuts. On the retrohale, the same rich and oily white pepper, non-sweet cream, biscuits and sharp cedar. The finish continues to linger with deep and oily white pepper on the tongue, wood bitterness and sharp cedar.

Burn

There were some slight waves in the burn line, but for the most part it stayed very straight. The ash held on in about inch and a half segments.

Burn

The cigar provided thick and voluminous smoke production. Total smoking time was an impressive three hours. The snow white ash held on fairly strong averaging 1.5 inch increments. Burn line was fairly razor sharp, most importantly, never needing a touch up or re-light.

Draw

The draw was pretty tight for the first half inch, but after that it became very good. Just slightly tighter than I prefer, but nothing that effected the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar started off very mellow, which was in line with the tight draw. After the first half inch, the flavors became much fuller as the draw eased up. The flavors that were present were very good and there were some nice transitions. The profile didn’t become really dark like some other Broadleaf cigars can exhibit, so that might lead to a wider array of smokers being able to enjoy this cigar. The strength also didn’t get too full, so another aspect which will appeal to more smokers. This is definitely a cigar I could see going back to and would recommend picking one up to see if it fits your profile as an afternoon or evening smoke.

Draw

The draw, although a bit loose, was good. Still allowed me to taste all the flavors without it being a major issue.

Overall

Amen! Foundation Cigar Co., as expected by most, creates a tasty Connecticut Broadleaf cigar. This is a good example of what a Connecticut Broadleaf cigar should be; chewy and dirty, medium full / full bodied cigar. I found the strength to be a bit surprising as I typically don’t get anything but a medium strength Connecticut Broadleaf cigar. Also, the wood bitterness was a bit overwhelming, especially towards the second half of the cigar. Hopefully humidor time can remediate this. All in all, within the stack of Connecticut Broadleaf released this year, this one is well worth searching out and buying.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

7.00

Cost/Point

$1.64

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

7.13

Cost/Point

$1.61

Scoring System