La Herencia Cubana toro

[borndead1]

6.5" x 52

This is an old school AJ Fernandez cigar which I'm pretty sure is a CI/C-Bid exclusive. I've been smoking these things off and on since they came out like 10+ yrs ago. Been stockpiling them since 2018 (toro and torpedo), and I'm at about 200 sticks.

These are a bit fatter than I normally like these days. The torps are better for me in that regard, but this specific cigar is almost always available on C-Bid, so I always end up adding several 5 packs or even a box to my bids.

I honestly cannot believe that a cigar this good flies under the radar of most people. These can be had for under $2/stick on C-Bid all the time. Retail price for boxes on CI is like $4/stick, which is still a good value for these.

Something else I cannot believe is the quality of these cigars. MAYBE 1 out of 20 are poorly constructed and/or unsmokeable. Pretty crazy for what these cigars sell for. The consistency in the blend is also unbelievable.

I smoke a lot of these, so my review will probably read like that rather than a first time tasting.

Eventually I'll get to the review.

These have a Sumatra wrapper, which to my palate gives a sweet flavor on the draw. The aroma coming from the foot is woodsy. Pretty straightforward CIGAR flavors are dominant In the first 1/3. Slow, even burn with zero burn corrections in the first 1/3.

In the second 1/3, a nice baking spice flavor comes in, which I'm sure is from the Nicaraguan filler. Burn is still almost perfect. The woodsy aroma from the foot has gotten more intense; to the point that it doesn't even really smell like a cigar as I'm typing. Medium 'strength' to this cigar throughout. They're not those super-triple-ligero-mega-fuerte cigars that became popular for some reason. Zero harshness through the nose.

SLOW burn. I'm barely past halfway at around 45 min. Minor burn correction.

Last 1/3, a nice anise flavor on the finish. Dominant flavors and aromas are still the same. Another minor burn correction. Started getting some ammonia at just over 1", so I snuffed it. Burn time was well over 1 hour.

These cigars aren't super complex. Sweet on the draw, tobacco and baking spice through the nose, straight tobacco with a bit of anise on the finish. But at the price you can score them, they are one of the best yard work/poker night/drankin' cigars you can get.

One caveat with the La Herencia Cubana ...they need humidor time. AJ isn't gonna let thousands of these cheap cigars take up space in the aging rooms. Common sense. So these need a minimum of 6 months rest IMO. 1 year or more is better.