Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the box pressed Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado is light brown and has some slightly raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is black and gold and denotes the company name and line, along with the years being celebrated on each side of the band. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of musty cedar and earth, while the foot brings stewed fruit sweetness and cedar. The pre-light draw brings an airy mix of stewed fruit sweetness and musty cedar along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado is a nice-looking cigar. The band pops against the lighter wrapper, and it is between Natural and a light Colorado in coloring. The press makes the cigar seem larger, but it has a nice firmness throughout. Lovely aroma of spices, leather, tobacco, earth and cedar. Some faint nutty qualities.
John: The Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker attached to the main body, which included the cigar information. For artisanal complications the cigar has a square box press shape. I weighed the cigar at 20.4 grams and measured the humidity at 63.4% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included bread, wood, tobacco and sweet earth. Out of the foot, I was getting sweet tobacco, bread, earth and coffee.
Jiunn: The Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado has an even and uniform Colorado wrapper. Veins are well pressed, seams tight but visible, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give minor barnyard, sweet plums and spicy cedar.

Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a mix of toasted, aged cedar, hay, earth and mild black pepper. At a quarter inch in, a bit of walnut joins the profile. At a half inch in, some mustiness pairs up with the toasted, aged cedar. The retrohale is toasted, musty, aged cedar and earth. At an inch in, the black pepper picks up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted, musty, aged cedar and hay up front, with earth just behind and some walnut and black pepper just behind the middle of the profile. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with some musty barnyard notes that are paired with some earth, warm spices and leather. There are some cedar qualities present, and it has a dry tobacco quality present as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with sweet tobacco as mild spices follow and wood finishes. A pepper moves into the post draw and immediately starts building in intensity. As the cigar settles in, the retrohale profile is mild bread to start and wood in the center. By the twenty minute mark, each of the flavor components have found an equilibrium in strength. By the halfway point, sweet wood joins the post draw.
Jiunn: The first third’s flavor profile presents subtleties. Soft cedar, followed by faint cherries and mixed nuts. Retrohaling gives a better flavor experience, intensifying the same notes and adding baker’s spice. The finish is clean and short aged cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the hay has departed the profile. At a half inch in, the walnut and black pepper both mellow a bit. The retrohale is now toasted, musty, aged cedar, earth and mild black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted, musty, aged cedar remains up front, with the earth just behind and the walnut and black pepper in the back half of the profile. The strength has bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third is in line with the first. Cedar and musty qualities up front. Warm spices with leather as well. Tobacco and barnyard notes are present with that medium strength and body level. Enjoyable cigar.
John: In the second third, I’m greeted by creamy tobacco, medium strength spices in the center, as spices, wood and pepper combine through the finish into the post draw. That pepper on the finish fades to a background note with the other components balancing at medium minus strength. Moving towards the halfway point, there is a woody finish with mild dry accents on the post draw. In the bottom half, earth accents the post draw.
Jiunn: The boldness of flavors increases by a touch, but the overall flavors remain the same. Cedar, faint cherries and mixed nuts. The retrohale is still where it’s at, providing the ideal intensity of flavors. Strength and body remains medium.

Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth is now even with the toasted, musty, aged cedar up front. At a half inch in, the pepper picks up a fair amount, but it is pretty smooth and has a long finish. The retrohale remains toasted, musty, aged cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the black pepper mellows a bit and a light creaminess joins the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted, musty, aged cedar is even with the earth up front, with black pepper in middle of the profile and the walnut and creaminess in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third is right in line with the first and second. It is still smoking cool and delivering those flavors that have been present throughout. Barnyard, musty notes, warm spices, leather, soft earth and tobacco. Medium in strength and body.
John: Initial flavor impressions in the last third are creamy medium strength spices with spices and wood into the post draw and a delayed dry wood lingering between each puff. Earth returns to the post draw as the last third settles in. The post draw earth moves up to medium-full at times as the cigar continues to the halfway point. At the halfway mark, the earth falls back to medium minus, matching the lingering wood in intensity. Mild char joins the post draw earth through the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third overall stays true to the first two thirds except for one change. The overall profile casts an ashy char. This lengthens the finish but not in a desirable manner. Strength and body finish the same at medium.

Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight through the first two thirds and then a bit wavy in the final third. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: The burn from beginning to end was great.
John: The burn was uneven to start, correcting itself in the first third. The burn becomes uneven again in the second third, requiring a touch-up to correct. A mild canoe forms in the last third but corrects itself.
Jiunn: Razor sharp burn line with solid ashes.

Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Lovely draw from start to finish. Nice smoking pressed cigar.
John: The draw is at most one notch into the resistant spectrum, which puts it in the ideal range between open and resistant for an amazing draw score.
Jiunn: The ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a mix of toasted, aged cedar, hay, earth and mild black pepper. Some walnut joined in fairly quickly and then some mustiness a bit later. The second third saw the hay depart. The final third saw the black pepper increase a bit and some creaminess join in. Other than some waviness in the final third, the construction was perfect. This Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado is a pretty nice showing for a big anniversary. A medium strength profile with proper flavor delivery throughout the cigar, which is rare. I’d have no problem coming back to this cigar, even with the slightly high price point and I’d be very interested in trying the perfecto if I could get my hands on it.
Seth: The Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado is a nice cigar, and I guess you could say a good cigar for 2024, but not a cigar to celebrate 50 years if I think back on my years of smoking Quesada. And I’m not even the biggest Quesada fan. Maybe we’ve become curmudgeons. The cigar was balanced and solid from beginning to end. A good core flavor profile with a nice draw and burn. It wasn’t overly complex, or strong in strength and body, but a solid smoke. Nice flavors of cedar, barnyard, earth, spices and leather.
John: The Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado started out strong, with balanced and engaging flavor combinations. The first half of the second third also had balanced flavor combinations, but some of the complexity faded through the last half and final third. The draw was perfect while the burn had a minor issue which required a touch-up to correct. Overall, the cigar was enjoyable to review, and I believe did enough to reach a good rating for the overall experience. Given the long history of Quesada, I was expecting the second third to match the first third in flavor combinations. I would try another one of these, especially given the celebratory nature of the cigar. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 39 minutes.
Jiunn: I didn’t find this Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado to be worthy of an anniversary cigar. The flavors overall were too soft and a bit mundane. I recommend skipping this and staying with the core line offerings for a cheaper and more flavorful experience.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

7.07

Cost/Point

$2.41

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$3.04

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.37

Cost/Point

$2.67

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.96

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado