Pre-light Experience

Seth: The Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro has a nice soft press and a wonderful cap. There is a Colorado Maduro wrapper on the cigar, and it is silky in texture. There are few veins present, and the veins present are small in size. It has a dark aroma, and I am picking up some dark chocolate and espresso notes. Warm spices are present as well with some leather and tobacco.
John: The Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro has a Colorado, almost Colorado Maduro color wrapper. For artisanal complications, the cigar has a rounded box press shape. I weighed the cigar at 18.0 grams and measured the humidity with the Humidimeter Pro at 66.2%. Aromas from the wrapper included light earth and wood, both at subdued levels. From the foot, I was getting faint hay and wood.
Jiunn: The Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro has a Colorado wrapper that has a couple blemishes with missing pieces of wrapper and wrapper overlap. Bunch and roll is on the looser side, veins are well pressed, seams tight and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give barnyard and roasted chestnuts.

Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro

First Third

Seth: The first third begins with warm spices, minerals and tobacco notes. There is some earth, leather and cocoa as well, and the profile is on the dryer side. In terms of strength and body, I would classify the cigar as being between medium and medium-full.
John: The cigar gets going with baking spices and wood, as an herbal, woody combination makes up the finish. As the first third settles in, some sweet tobacco joins the front of the profile at light-plus strength. By the halfway point, sweet tobacco and wood are leading off, with the spices becoming a background note that lingers into the finish and is joined by mildly dry wood.
Jiunn: The first third is deliciously sweet, creamy and spicy. Flavors of Kings Hawaiian bread, spicy cedar and black pepper spice. Retrohaling gives the nostrils a zing of red pepper spice. The finish is less eventful with soft cedar wood. Strength and body is medium.

Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro

Second Third

Seth: The second third is fairly in line with the first. Less complexity with more mineral notes. Earth, cocoa and tobacco. Pepper spices are present on the finish. Like before, medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The second third opens with tannic wood leading at medium-minus strength, with dry, tannic wood carrying into the post draw. Approaching the halfway point, the tannins fall back to light levels, leaving the profile almost entirely wood-driven.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile hangs onto the first third’s profile. It’s still distinctly and deliciously sweet, creamy and spicy with all the same flavors as the first third. The finish does lengthen a little bit but it’s still the same soft cedar wood. Strength and body remains medium.

Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro

Final Third

Seth: The final third delivers a profile that is in line with the second third. The mineral notes do not become too overpowering, and there is a balance between the earth, cocoa and tobacco notes. Pepper spices on the finish. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: The last third opens with creamy earth and wood, with mildly tannic wood making up the finish. Earth joins the finish as the last third continues, building from medium strength up to medium-plus. Some bitterness moves into the post draw as the cigar reaches the halfway point, increasing to medium strength through the bottom half before finally receding back to light levels near the end.
Jiunn: The final third is still distinct and tasty but the flavor profile changes to replacing some of the sweetness and creaminess to a little bit of tinny minerals. Strength and body remains medium.

Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro

Burn

Seth: The burn is very good from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the first third, with the ash dropping consistently at one-inch increments. The burn started uneven in the second third, requiring a touch-up to correct. The burn continued to be uneven through the last third but did not require further intervention.
Jiunn: Flawless burn performance featuring tight ashes, cool burning temperatures, ample smoke production and an even burn.

Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro

Draw

Seth: The draw is very good throughout the cigar.
John: I measured the draw at 70 inches of water with the Cigar Medics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be 2-1/2 to 3 notches towards the resistant spectrum.
Jiunn: The draw was also flawless, providing a great balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Seth: The Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro is an average to good cigar. Overall, average, but it has a nice first third. If the first third carried on into the second, this cigar would have scored better. There is a nice burn and draw throughout the cigar, which is a nice addition to the solid flavor profile. It has nice complexity throughout but lacks some depth to make it good. It is definitely a cigar I would smoke again, but not something I would seek out. Dryer side of the profile with nice earth, leather, cocoa and spice flavors.
John: This cigar delivered a fairly linear, wood-driven experience that never quite found a way to elevate beyond its core profile. The first third introduced a decent balance of baking spices, wood and a touch of sweetness, but even early on, it felt restrained rather than dynamic. There were hints of progression, particularly with the sweet tobacco trying to push forward, but those moments were short-lived. Moving into the second third, the profile became increasingly dominated by tannic wood. While the tannins did eventually recede, they left behind a profile that felt one-dimensional, with very little in the way of complexity or evolution. The cigar essentially settled into a steady, wood-centric experience without much to keep it engaging. The final third is where things began to slip further. The increasing earth and creeping bitterness added weight to the profile but not in a way that improved it. Instead, it felt like the cigar was becoming more abrasive and less balanced as it progressed, even though the bitterness eventually eased off slightly near the end. From a construction standpoint, the cigar performed reasonably well, with only minor burn issues and a draw that, while a bit resistant, remained manageable. In the end, this Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro is an average cigar that shows some early promise but ultimately leans too heavily on tannic wood and earth without enough complexity or evolution to keep things interesting. It’s not a poor experience, but it’s one that feels like it never fully develops beyond the first third. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Jiunn: A consistently good cigar from start to finish. The range of flavors were not vast but I loved how full and distinct the flavors were. Highly anticipate what this reveal is. I’d definitely be in for at least a bundle of 10 of this Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro.

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.85

Cost/Point

$2.38

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.00

Cost/Point

$2.79

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

7.17

Cost/Point

$1.95

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Raices Cubanas 1941 Nuevo Comienzo Gran Toro