"There is nothing more agreeable than having a place where one can throw on the floor as many cigar butts as one pleases without the subconscious fear of a maid who is waiting like a sentinel to place an ashtray where the ashes are going to fall." -Fidel Castro
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.
This cigar has a rustic, toothy looking dark-brown wrapper that appeared to be on the dry side (and not oily). It was somewhat veiny, but nothing that distracted from the smoking experience. This look works well with the horse theme of the burnt orange and beige band. The cigar seemed to be solidly rolled with no soft spots. Nice triple cap. Pre-light aroma was sweet hay.
Lighting and Burn: 14 Points of 15 Possible
The burn on this cigar was steady and even, and never got hot. It wavered a few times, but always self-corrected and never required a touch up or relight. The first ash was solid and held to about 1-1/4 inch before falling, and I tapped it off every inch after that. It had an easy draw and produced a lot of blue smoke.
Construction: 27 Points of 30 Possible
The triple cap cut cleanly and this was a well-constructed cigar. Firmly rolled, heavy in hand with no soft spots. Maybe a bit too firm as it didn't soften up at all even while burning (and it had been properly humified, so that was not the cause of the issue). The draw was nice and easy.
Flavor and Aroma: 38 Points of 45 Possible
The first third opened with pepper and tart stone fruit in the forefront, with oakiness and bakers chocolate in the background. The pepper intensified on the retrohale. Seemed to be medium full in strength.
The pepper somewhat retreated to the background on the second third, some earthiness was introduced and the tart stone fruit, oak and bakers chocolate became the more dominant notes. Now backed down to medium in strength.
The final third was pretty much a repeat of the middle third of the cigar, but a bit mellower but with some of the initial pepper returning to the retrohales. It finished at medium in strength.
Summary
This is a good cigar to have a few in the humidor in rotation. Great construction, and even though there is not a lot of complexity in flavor notes from beginning to end, the profile is a unique combination of flavors unlike other broadleaf cigars that I have experienced. Worthy of trying by novices and experienced smokers alike.