Merciless by JdN Toro

[Don Fernando]

Merciless by JdN is one of the house blends for the American online retailer, Famous Smoke Shop. There are several factories that create exclusive cigars for big players like Famous, Thompson, Cigar.com and Cigars International. And because these companies are huge, and have immense buying power, they are able to have good blends made cheaply.



The Merciless is made with Nicaraguan filler. The binder comes from the Dominican Republic and the wrapper is a Habano from Ecuador. Online, you can buy these cigars below 5 US dollar per cigar. Ministry of Cigars bought the cigars from the Malaysian retailer Borneo Cigars.



Name: Merciless
Country: Nicaragua
Factory: Fabrica de tabacos Joya de Nicaragua
Size: 6×50
Vitola: Toro
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: € 5,20
Cutter: Xikar X2
Lighter: single flameSmoke conditions: indoors with ventilator
Smoke time: Two hours forty minutes
Purchased at Borneo Cigars



The wrapper on the Merciless is intimidating. Everything on this cigar is intimidating. Joya de Nicaragua is known for their strong cigars. The name implies it’s a powerhouse. And then a rough, dark wrapper. The wrapper has a fine leather touch to it. The ring is beautiful. Black with silver details and the name in metallic red. The cigar has a strong manure aroma.



The cigar has a good cold draw. The flavors of the cold draw are raw tobacco and raisins. Once lit, the flavors are dried leather with coffee, mushrooms, and oak. Those flavors turn to soil and cedar with a little salt. The mouthfeel is dry. After a centimeter, the flavors change to nutmeg, cumin and some milk chocolate with the earth and cedar. The milk chocolate gets stronger, but there is some metallic taste on the background. Then some pepper shows up. The second third starts with toast, roasted almonds, and aspartame sweetness. The pepper is still there with some citrus. Halfway, earthiness is the best description. But with milk chocolate and citrus. The mouthfeel is a buttery creaminess. The last third has a growing chocolate flavor with leather. The mouthfeel changes to dry yet creamy. In the finale, thin mint flavor is clearly recognizable.



The draw is great, the ash is like a stack of coins. Firm and dense. The smoke is decent, could be a bit thicker. This cigar medium-full bodied and flavored. The smoke time is two hours and forty minutes


Strength: medium-full

Flavor: medium-full

For the final score with a scientific diagram, a video and pictures, go to: https://ministryofcigars.com/merciless-by-jdn-toro/