Cigar Weekly

Puros Indios Toro Especial Colorado Claro

Published Saturday, March 31st, 2007
Compiled by Carl Johnsen (CJ3)

Puros Indios is produced by the famed cigar maker Rolando Reyes, Sr. in Danli, Honduras. It is a benchmark Honduran blend with DR Piloto Cubano seed leaf added to temper the recipe. The result is a very flavorful, smooth, full-bodied smoke that is sure to please.

The Puros Indios cigars are hand made in Honduras with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, Ecuadorian binder, and a blend of Dominican, Brazilian & Jamaican fillers. The wrapper on the sample cigars for the blind review is the Colorado Claro.

 

Pre-Smoke Comments

Herfin Bigdog: Familiar tobacco smell. The wrapper is lighter than a Connecticuit wrapper. I'm guessing it has a Nicaraguan wrapper.

live2fish: The cigar was rather dry although I had kept both samples in my cabinet for amost 10 days at 68/68. Draw was very loose. However, the burn was perfect throughout with nice tight, light grey ash usually dropping at 1 1/2". Aroma was pleasant.

Briandg: This was an ems Toro, a little over sized. Kind of dry looking, with a single wrap to the cap, firm, but rather lumpy, and a little inconsistently soft. A little wrapper damage, in the form of small tears. Wrapper had a rather consistent color and texture, I really think that it was better than the smoke. Prelight draw and aroma were pleasant, and at light up they had a mild, somewhat pleasing cinammon like taste that reminded me of H2000. Burn was irregular on both specimens. The first took several touchups, but went alright, other than minor tunneling. The second developed a serious tunnel, and a hard spot on the other side caused a hanging bad spot and a serious canoeing problem. Frankly, it has been a while since I have had a cigar with such a poorly constructed head. They literally disintegrated, in spite of careful cutting/punching. One started to split, from the head, and peel forward. At about an inch, the wrapper completely burst from head to foot. I tossed it after that breakdown, as it had already began to go bad in other ways. I broke it open, and surprisingly, it was all long filler, with a complex blend of leaves, or so it seemed

PCaponi: I found this to be a very attracttive cigar. It's size was just what I like. It cut perfectly and the pre-light draw was smooth. A little taste of fruit before lighting. The only thing I saw was that the cap seemed to be uneven on both cigars.

wolfpack97: A nice smooth light to medium brown cigar. Good construction

kosmen: Mystery Cigar #4:

(Stored in cabinet humidor 70deg/70RH)

Sunday 03/12/07: Start: 01:14 AM Finnish: 02:01 AM

Food prior to lighting up: Chinese lemon chicken

Drink: Pellegrino over ice.

Location: Garage at my computer with the door " up.

Pre light aroma: This cigar had a hint of a floral bouquet. The smell was not overly powerful and hinted possibly a milder cigar.

Construction: Both cigars in this pack suffered some nicks and tears, this probably occurred during shipping. The better of the two had a cracked foot and I was concerned that it may affect the burn. It held an even milk chocolate color and if not for the tears and crack would be a nice looking stick. There was one tiny vein that ran one third quarter of the cigar. When rolled between my fingers it gave ever so slightly but since the wrapper had a few tears I decided not to play with it too much.

Pre Light: I made a cut with my Xikar cigar cutter. The wrapper started to slightly unravel, but with a little creativity I managed to mitigate the damage. The Xikar is very sharp and has worked like a gem on my other sticks, so I will assume it was from the damage the sticks underwent during shipping. I took a pre light draw and tasted a hint of cinnamon and wood.

Light: I used a Colibri torch lighter and toasted the foot. It lit perfectly. The cracked foot caused no uneven burn and things started looking up.

JulietasRomeo: This cigar looked very well constructed. My sample felt a little "dried out", but wasn't that disappointing.

Smoke Comments

Herfin Bigdog: I thought the cigar had a very pleasent taste. I'm thinking it has some Honduran filler. It was a very enjoyable cigar. The draw was just right.

live2fish: The flavor of both samples was mild and somewhat bland to say the least. Very one-demensional The second sample turned sour or "off" during the last one-half. The wrapper reminded me of camaroon.

Briandg: Seriously, this started out alright, with a slightly spicy character, and the standard coffee like aroma. The smoke was kind of sharp, and it left a lingering tinny aftertaste, maybe there were residues of insecticides/chemicals on the filler or something. After a little less than half way, it had begun to strengthen, but by the time it started to develop any flavor complexity or strength, the beast was unleashed. This thing developed a foul, burned coffee like taste, and the aroma, while stronger and retaining the same character, took on a few notes of grossness.

PCaponi: This started off very smooth, with very little flavor. It picked up very quickly. I tasted a lot of fruit and what I would describe as flowers in it. Almost too much. A very nice color ash and never had to replight it.

wolfpack97: Cigar had a smooth easy draw that produced a lot of firm gray ash. First half of cigar started out mild with a earthy/woody flavor. Second half of cigar was more medium bodied and a little harsh.

kosmen: Taste: The initial draws were mellow and light. I exhaled through my nose and could taste wood, cinnamon, and milk chocolate. It was clean, light and had ample smoke.

First Third:

The first third of the cigar was the same flavor profile as the initial draw. It had not really changed and was very mild. Along with the wood, cinnamon, and milk chocolate, there was an ever so slightly unpleasant oily aftertaste.

Half Way Point:

At the half way point there was absolutely no change in the flavor profile save an oilier aftertaste.

Final Third:

No change in profile except that the oily aftertaste had significantly built up and was now masking some of the sweeter tones of the cigar. I tried exhaling through the cigar with the cigar torch lit to rid myself of the accumulating oils, but it did not alleviate the now extremely oily taste.

JulietasRomeo: This cigar had a good flavor. I noted some woodsy/earthy taste. The aftertaste was very good as well. It had a light spice to match the taste.

Summary Comments

Herfin Bigdog: There was nothing extraordinary about this cigar. But it smoked very pleasently. I would definitely smoke it again. The cigar was punch cut and smoke with bottled water.

live2fish: Good construction and burn, but otherwise rather bland smoke.

Briandg: Overall, construction standards were poor, but acceptable for a cheap bundle. Tobacco selections were good, it seemed, until the flavors went bad on it. I don't know if this is some maker's idea of a joke, or if it was intended to be that way. Why would anyone put out what seemed like a solid blend of long filler, with a decent looking wrapper, but built badly, and an awful, contaminated taste? I have to rate this one as a total poodle stick.

PCaponi: Normally I don't care for cigar that are "sweet", but for this one I made an exception. The flavors mixed well, but came close to being over powering. I never had a problem with the draw, burn or un-raveling. I would not consider this a nromal or everyday cigar, But I could see trying it on different occassions just for the chance to try something different. I would definetly recommend it to anyone who asked.

wolfpack97: Overall a good cigar. Well made , good burn, and easy draw. Flavor was a little too harsh for me but worth a try.

kosmen: Synopsis: I usually smoke a fuller bodied cigar and this was a big change from my normal rotation. The oily aftertaste was quite unpleasant and had it not been for this I would have enjoyed the stick quite a bit more. I would not add it to my rotation, but I appreciate the opportunity to review this cigar!

JulietasRomeo: I would likely purchase this cigar if I was in the unt for a good Toro. It was an excellent cigar. Very impressed. Total Smoke time was 1hr. and 15min. Yummy.

Scores

Review Results

Final Score: 36.80 out of 50 - 4 Stars -- Excellent