Cigar Geeks - Stallone Cigars Zaino Broadleaf Toro

Cigar Geeks Geek Critique

Stallone Cigars Zaino Broadleaf Toro
Written by Cigar Geeks Member: klamm143

90
Cigar Geeks Rating

Welcome to another Member sponsored Geek Critique. This one has been generously sponsored by our member Cfickter (Chuck). The cigar provided for this round is the http://www.cigargeeks.com/cigardb/default.asp?action=showcig&cigar_id=192427">Stallone Cigars Zaino Broadleaf Toro. Tony Barrios, a cutting horse competitor, founded Stallone Cigars in 2014, though its cigars didn't enter the U.S. market until August 2020. While there are many companies that use horses for various parts of their branding, few cigar companies have leaned into the theme quite like Stallone. It has six different blends sold under the Cowboy Series name, each of which features Stallone's horse-themed logo and the name of each cigar can be identified by the color of the cigar wrapper resembling the horse's color in Spanish. Zaino refers to the dark-colored brown Broadleaf wrapper found on the cigar.

Stallone Cigars Zaino Broadleaf Toro

Brand:: Stallone Cigars
Name:: Zaino Broadleaf Toro
Length:: 6
Ring Gauge:: 52
Country of Origin:: Nicaragua
Filler:: Nicaragua
Binder:: Nicaragua
Wrapper:: United States
Color:: Maduro
Strength:: Full
Shape:: Toro
Average Member Purchase Price:: $6.50
Average Member Rating:: (1 Review(s))
Notes:: https://stallonecigars.com/cowboyseries/ https://www.smallbatchcigar.com/stallone-zaino-toro

This cigar was enjoyed with Grey Goose - orange juice and Galliano float.

Pre-Light: 9 Points of 10 Possible

Impressive look to this stick. Eye catching label, partial cedar sleeve and a foot band. Once it is "unwrapped" it is a dark wrapper, semi-shiny just screaming "smoke me and enjoy"!!!The wrapper is semi oily with numerous small veins and ridges, a nice tight cap and strong pre-light aroma. The aroma is like a mild chocolate. I used a v-cut and the pre-light draw was easy with hints of a dark chocolate - cherry mocha. It reminded of a chocolate mocha iced coffee in flavor profile.

Lighting and Burn: 13 Points of 15 Possible

Light up was easy, with a consistent burn that required no re-lights. There were several times of uneven burn but light touch ups fixed the issue. The stick burned with a white-grey ash that held firm in 1 inch increments. I got about 90 minutes of tasty goodness with this stick. The smoke volume was consistent throughout the smoke time, giving off huge amounts of aromatic white smoke.

Construction: 25 Points of 30 Possible

This stick appeared to be well constructed, firm to the touch with no soft or weak spots detected. The pre-light and post-light draws were smooth and easy. The wrapper and cap were tight and well applied. All aspects of construction were to my liking.

Flavor and Aroma: 43 Points of 45 Possible

I found this stick to be fairly consistent in flavor and smoke-ability throughout. the first third seemed to be the most flavor-full, with chocolate ,cherry and pepper tastes. The second third saw the flavors blend well, with a slight drop off in chocolate / mocha flavor. The final third seems to have a slight intensity in pepper, but not any overbearing changes from the first to second to final third. I would rate this as a medium body cigar with a mid-range in complexity. No bitterness, no unpleasantness and no hot spots.

Summary

Thanks to Chuck for sponsoring the stick and including me in this review, and to Bruce for facilitating this month's critique. Thanks for the bodyguard. I found this stick to be very enjoyable, and in my wheel house when it comes to flavoring in a cigar. Not overbearing at all - just a mild flavored tasty stick. It appears to be marketed in the 9 dollar price range, and I think that's about right. It's definitely a stick that I will smoke again and maybe even purchase in box quantities. I did not know what to expect as I had never smoked any cigars in the Stallone line - but that will surely change. In sticking with the "Cowboy" theme of this cigar series -- "Fire one up and ride 'em cowboy".

Have safe and Happy Holidays To all.