Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the My Father La Promesa Toro is medium brown and has some raised, knotty veins present. The seams are slightly raised and easily visible while the head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. Interestingly, the middle wrap of the cap is a lighter color than the rest which caused me to do a double take. One thing to note is that the cigar feels very light for its size. The cigar has three bands with the first being the traditional company band. The secondary band denotes the line in a light blue color and the foot has a pink/peach ribbon. The aroma from the wrapper is a nice mix of toasted nuts and dark earth while the foot brings more toasted nuts and wheat bread. The pre-light draw brings spicy cedar and light breadiness.

Pre-light Experience

The My Father La Promesa Toro is lovely in appearance and is finished with a beautiful Colorado/Rosado wrapper. The veins are medium in size throughout and the texture is slightly oily. Some marbled coloring to the cigar, it has a beautiful cap and is firm in texture. Aromas of tobacco, barnyard, earth and soft raisins.

Pre-light Experience

The My Father La Promesa Toro is doubled banded. The primary band has the standard design of My Father, with too many colors and elements to describe in a short paragraph. There are gold accents, light orange main elements and an orange foot band. The secondary band has similar design elements but indicates “La Promesa”. The aromas from the wrapper are faint baking spices and rich wood. In the foot is sweet tobacco.

Pre-light Experience

The My Father La Promesa Toro has a Colorado Red wrapper shade that is most evident in direct sunlight. The wrapper’s quality is great as there is oiliness and fine tooth. Major veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even but tight and a triple cap. Nosing the wrapper gives cedar and hay. Nosing the foot tells sharp red pepper and rich nuttiness. Cold draw gives namely an airy cedar.

First Third

The cigar begins with a mix of cedar and cinnamon. At a half inch in, the cinnamon has transitioned to black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, some baking spice and mustiness join in behind the cedar while the black pepper is in the background. The retrohale is a very light musty cedar. At an inch in, the profile is musty cedar and light baking spice. As the third comes to a close, the baking spice picks up a bit. The strength in this third was slightly below medium.

First Third

The first third begins by delivering some lovely bread notes. I am getting some peppery spice and tobacco with that, and the finish is of wood, cinnamon and sugar. I would classify the cigar as being medium in body and flavors, and the strength is just below medium.

First Third

My initial flavor impressions are creaminess, baking spices and cocoa. Post draw, the cocoa settles in, with cedar and the trademark My Father pepper. That pepper begins medium strength, and rapidly moves up to medium-full. Cedar moves into the middle of the profile. That intense pepper settles down at approximately the 20 minute mark. Cedar and cream become the primary flavor drivers. Post draw leather settles in at the halfway point. Some tannins join the cedar in the middle of the profile.

First Third

The first third gives a distinctive red pepper spice pop and plenty of black coffee. These notes are most noticeable when retrohaling. There are also more subtle softer notes such as a lingering bread/toast. The finish is pretty short with faintness in cedar and bread. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the cedar gains a toasted note as the baking spice mellows slightly. Overall, the flavors are a bit fuller now as the draw isn’t as loose. At a half inch in, the toasted and musty cedar is becoming a bit dry while the baking spice is faint in the background. The retrohale is just musty cedar. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar gains some char while the mustiness is right behind. The baking spice has left the profile. The strength in this third bumped up to medium.

Second Third

As I enter into the second third, I am finding some transitioning. I am picking up some cinnamon toast crunch notes and with that is some peppery spices, leather, bread and wood. The second third picked up from the first third and really delivered an enjoyable flavor profile. Like before, the cigar is medium in body and flavors and I found the strength increased to that medium level as well.

Second Third

Leather drives the profile, at medium minus strength moving into the second third. The middle of the profile is still creamy cedar. As the cigar settles in, sweetness in the middle of the profile offsets tannins in the cedar. Minutes later the tannins push back against the sweetness, and begin to carry into the post draw, up to medium-full strength. Ten minutes later, the post draw tannins, cedar and leather strike a nice balance.

Second Third

The second third turns a corner for the worse. The profile fizzles down to a mild red pepper spice and earthy/dirt note. The black coffee note is unfortunately entirely gone. Strength and body remains medium.

Final Third

The final third continues with the toasted and slightly charred cedar with mustiness right behind. At a quarter inch in, the char has increased a fair amount. At three quarters of an inch, the char has eased up and is pretty faint. The retrohale is just toasted and musty cedar. At an inch in, some bitterness joins the profile. At an inch and a quarter, the toast note picks up while the char and bitterness are fairly faint in the background. At an inch and a half, the char picks back up as a vegetal note also joins the profile. The strength in this third bumped up to slightly above medium.

Final Third

The final third was fairly similar to that of the second third. I was getting some cinnamon toast crunch flavors and it was accompanied by that peppery spice and wood notes. The bread flavors disappeared in this third, and so did the tobacco notes. I would classify the cigar as still being medium in all areas, and it had a nice finish.

Final Third

Cedar with tannins lead the cigar going into the last third. The post draw is defined by drying cedar. Charred earth finishes each draw. There is no other evolution through the remainder of the last third.

Final Third

One word comes to mind for the final third: inconsistent. The black coffee comes and goes but it’s still mainly mild red pepper and earth/dirt. Further, towards the middle of the last third, a harsh bitterness seeps through. Strength and body finishes medium.

Burn

The burn line was OK other than a section of wrapper that didn’t want to burn and required two touch-ups. The ash held on in near two inch increments.

Burn

The burn was fantastic from start to finish. Amazing construction. Ash was simply beautiful and hung on well throughout each third.

Burn

The burn is fairly straight in the first third, becoming uneven in the bottom half. A canoe entering the second third that results in a touch-up. A second touch-up is required before the second third finishes. The burn is relatively even through the last third. The ash holds on up to 2+ inches through the session.

Burn

Burn performance was just slightly better than average (good). For the first couple thirds of the cigar, a quarter of the wrapper refused to burn, requiring a couple major touch-ups. The positives were a cool burn and tight ashes.

Draw

The draw started out fairly loose, but once it reached the second third, it was at my ideal level of firmness.

Overall

The cigar began with cedar and cinnamon and then the cinnamon moved to black pepper which finally ended up as baking spice. Some mustiness joined in and the cedar gained a toasted note and later some char joined in. The construction was pretty good other than a few touch-ups and the strength was around medium the whole way. The My Father La Promesa Toro began with a nice flavor profile even though the body was light due to the loose draw and then firmed up and became fuller the rest of the way. The cigar had a good start, but became average from the second third on. This experience has been similar to my other experiences with the brand the last few years and doesn’t match up with what they provided earlier on. It’s a cigar I’d smoke again, but wouldn’t be something I reach for very often.

Draw

Like the burn, the draw was spot on from start to finish. Nice level of resistance which made for an awesome smoking experience.

Overall

While I was not blow away by the My Father La Promesa Toro, and I would classify the cigar as being between average and good, it was a solid release for My Father Cigars. I have felt that they have been struggling in producing some quality releases for many years and this is a step in the right direction. The cinnamon toast crunch and peppery spice flavors present throughout were really enjoyable and if there was more transitioning into the final third this cigar would have done really well. The draw and burn were great and the if I am going to go into the packaging, I would love for them to go away from using the My Father bands on top. Just stick with the cigar being La Promesa and work around that. It appears that they have too many cigars related to the original My Father.

Draw

The draw has at most a half notch of resistance, putting it still in the ideal range for a draw.

Overall

The My Father La Promesa Toro has some interesting complexity in the first third of cream, baking spices, cocoa, cedar and the trademark My Father pepper. That complexity fades moving into the second third and the experience is fairly average for the remainder of the cigar. Strength was just over medium with flavor intensity hitting medium-full at times. The draw and burn was quite good. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 54 minutes.

Draw

The firmness felt within the pre-light experience equated to a tighter draw. Still considered very good though, just not perfect.

Overall

As previously written within the last third, inconsistency was actually the main culprit within the entire cigar. The first third showed a lot of promise (ha), giving a distinct red pepper spice and abundant black coffee. But past that mark, the flavor profile deteriorated to mild spice and overt earth/dirt. And, the great distinct notes were on and off. The My Father La Promesa Toro would have been good if it held onto the opening third but unfortunately it wasn’t the case.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.60

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.95

Cost/Point

$1.55

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$1.53

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.60

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: My Father La Promesa Toro