Torano vs Torano / The ‘59 Challenge
Posted By Elvis on March 19, 2008
Iron and I are so lucky that a small little cigar lounge has opened recently in our neck of the Minnesota woods. It’s a great story…a guy who runs a liquor store in an old house is a huge cigar smoker and fan. He has always sold a nice little collection of smokes in the store. But recently he decided to clear out a large storage area, slap down some wood flooring and open a cigar lounge as an attachment. What’s more, he’s dedicated some serious money to fill the place up with a large variety of premium smokes. It’s been a fun couple of weeks because as he’s filling up the inventory, you never know what you are going to find when you step into the leather couch laden little smoking room. Today, I stopped on my way home from work and suddenly there was nearly the whole line of Carlos Torano products just sitting there all fresh and shiny begging me to try them.
Carlos Torano is one of those cigar lines really gaining steam. Here in Minnesota, they were hard to find maybe 6 months ago, but now they are cropping up everywhere. I would guess this increased exposure is due to their recent partnering with CAO. I discovered, and the cigar group we run in the Twin Cities discovered them when we tried the incredible Virtuoso last summer at one of our meetings as the smoke of the month. Since then, I have tried the Casa Torano Maduro which I panned pretty hard on these pages. But I really thought I should get back to the roots of the Torano line and try both the Silver and Black labels. These labels both are part of the Exodus 1959 line..the black wrapper is a bit darker and is awesomely box pressed and the silver is a little lighter and is round in shape. I grabbed the torpedo size on both of them.
I lit up the Black label today at the shop and was pissed that I couldn’t quite smoke it all before I had to get myself home to cart the kids around for their activities because it was so good. The black (actually called the Exodus Gold label) sports a chocolate bar like Habano 2000 label and this smoke was all earth to me….dark roast coffee and dark chocolate all the way through with a shot of spice. Absolutely fabulous smoke and I just love the way the perfectly packed box press sits in your mouth. The burn had a few problem areas, but I kept the torch handy and just touched it up along the way…frankly, sometimes you just don’t care when the flavor is this rich and intoxicating. Wow…I will be smoking more of these. The fillers are from 5 different countries including Mexico which you don’t see too often and had always left a bad taste in my mouth since I tried a Te-amo. But Mr. Torano can use all the Mexican tobaccos he wants if he can make it taste this smooth.
I took the Exodus Silver label home with me tonight. This cigar is similar in taste, but a little more spice and it is much rougher on the palate. It hits you a little more head on with power and zip and doesn’t have any of the creaminess and has a lot less smoothness. It also lacks the deep coffee notes, which some people might prefer if you are not in the mood for that deep black flavor. After tasting the two, I looked up the wrapper and the differences made more sense to me when I found out the wrapper is the famed 1998 Criollo variety which I have yet to find a cigar sporting it that I have really enjoyed. It’s a unique taste. The fillers are the same 5 country blend.
Both sticks were $8.50 which in Minnesota is really reasonable. Looks like you can score a box of either for under $100 online if you shop around (hint CI). It’s obvious that both blends are top of the line cigars and if you see Torano popping up in your area, grab a couple and try them out. Next on my list will be the 1916 Cameroon and the Casa Torano natural….I can’t wait. But I’m sure I will be picking up some of the very best Virtuosos in the meantime. Long live Carlos!!
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