Anthony (Lear31MX) turned me on to some Toscano Originales back in February (
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...hlight=toscano) and I've finally gotten around to a review. I had one not long after I received the package, but it was VERY tight and I didn't feel like my smoking event would have given an accurate review. I took a couple of these on vacation a couple weeks ago and shared one with my brother-in-law.
They were still very hard and incredibly dense, even after 4-5 months of 63 RH. All I could imagine is someone rolled them wet and allowed they to shrink as they dried. I was so scared they wouldn't smoke. We lit them up and while the draw was tight, we could draw good enough to enjoy the smokes. They loosened up about a 1/3 of the way through, but they are still unlike any cigar I've ever had. A hard, deliberate finger roll wouldn't dent the end of the cigar, so there was no way to loosen them up. I used a draw tool on both smokes and they opened up quite well. The smoke was smooth and creamy, with no harshness. It had a distinctive tobacco flavor with smoked wood undertones. They were one-dimensional with these flavors, but had a unique and enjoyable flavor and we smoked them to the nub. Again thanks to Anthony for a chance to try a cigar I would not have ever had a chance to enjoy. I still have one left, so the party is not over.
(Excuse my dirty hands as we were cleaning grills and smoking shoulders)
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Thanks for the review Jamie. I think they are rock hard by design, or at least, that's how I remember them being about 10-12 or so years ago. One of the guys on our dart team used to smoke them all the time, they were always like twigs, even when he got a fresh shipment in. Like you said, they weren't bad, just one dimensional.
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