Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the MBombay Kesara Toro is golden brown and has a network of lightly raised veins that carry a lighter color to them. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is red and copper, with a cream color in the middle with lots of small images. The brand and line are denoted. The aroma from the wrapper is dusty earth and wood, while the foot brings cedar, bread and light earth. The pre-light draw is a dry mix of cedar and dusty earth.
John: The MBombay Kesara Toro does not come in cellophane. It has a single MBombay Kesara band. I weighed the cigar at 18.9 grams. I measured the humidity at 63.7% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper were quite light, with fresh cedar and light tobacco the only notes I could detect. From the foot, I was getting mild tobacco and cedar.

MBombay Kesara Toro

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a slightly dry, aged cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At a quarter inch in, some sandalwood pairs up with the cedar. At a half inch in, some creaminess joins in. The retrohale is a slightly fuller version of the same flavor combination from the mouth draws. At an inch and a quarter, a perfume note joins the profile. At an inch and a half in, the black pepper increases a bit. At an inch and three quarters, the earth picks up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the aged cedar and sandalwood are up front, with the earth a bit behind, black pepper in the middle of the profile and some creaminess and perfume in the back half. The strength was slightly below medium.
John: The first third gets going with a combination of creamy mild tobacco and wood, as a combination of delayed wood and tobacco also make up the post draw. As the first third settles in, spice quietly moves into the retrohale, rising from light strength up to medium-minus. Bread also joins the retrohale and combines with the spices already present. The profile remains consistent for the remainder of the first third.

MBombay Kesara Toro

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth increases a bit more. At a quarter inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit. At three quarters of an inch in, the perfume note has departed as the creaminess increases a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and black pepper. At an inch and a half in, the pepper increases to become even with the earth. As the third comes to a close, the cedar and sandalwood are just ahead of the earth and black pepper with creaminess just behind the middle of the profile. The strength bumped up to medium.
John: The second third opens with a combination of creamy bread and baking spices, as a mildly dry cedar and spice combination moves into the post draw. The profile remains consistent as it moves toward the halfway point, with overall strength holding at light-plus levels. Some tannins join the wood on the finish through the bottom half of the second third.

MBombay Kesara Toro

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the profile has become a bit dry as the creaminess recedes a bit. At a half inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and zingy black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the pepper ramps back up and is now in between the cedar and sandalwood combo and the earth. As the cigar wraps up, the cedar and sandalwood are just ahead of the black pepper, with earth right behind it. The creaminess is in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
John: The last third gets going with tannic wood, which intensifies up to medium strength through the finish, bringing along with it some earth. As the cigar progresses to the halfway point of the final third, wood is the primary flavor driver, as mostly tannic and dry accents join through the finish.

MBombay Kesara Toro

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout, and the ash held on in inch and three quarter increments.
John: The burn was straight through the entire review process.

MBombay Kesara Toro

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
John: I measured the draw at 60 inches of water with the CigarMedics Draw Machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be roughly 2½ to 3 notches toward the resistant spectrum, meaning there was resistance on each puff.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a slightly dry, aged cedar, earth and mild black pepper. Some sandalwood joined in quickly and some creaminess after that. Later, a perfume note joined in and the black pepper increased. The second third saw the earth increase and the black pepper mellow. Later, the perfume note departed and the creaminess and pepper increased. The final third saw the creaminess mellow and the overall profile become a bit dry. The black pepper mellowed a bit and later ramped up to right behind the cedar and sandalwood. The MBombay Kesara Toro had a nice start with a fair number of flavor components and transitions. It dropped a level in the second third as some components mellowed and dropped out and maintained that level the rest of the way. I was really hoping for a longer experience with the first third as the combination of flavors were working well, but it faded back as it went along. The pricing is a bit high, so it’s not something I’d come back to frequently, but I’d be up for it on occasion.
John: The MBombay Kesara Toro opened with a clean and elegant flavor profile, focused on creamy tobacco, wood and a well-integrated rise of spice and bread through the retrohale. It showed good balance and complexity in the first third, even if the overall strength hovered at lighter levels. As the cigar progressed, the profile became more wood-centric with drying cedar and rising tannins shaping much of the second and final thirds. The last third leaned heavily into tannic and dry wood notes with some earthiness joining in, which pulled the cigar away from the nuanced start. Excellent burn performance and a resistant-but-workable draw kept things on track technically, but in terms of flavor, it ultimately landed in average territory after a promising opening. The total smoking time was 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.95

Cost/Point

$3.36

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$3.45

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: MBombay Kesara Toro