Cupido Toro Negro...Nicaraguan ...sungrown Habana 2000 wrapper

From the lid: Made Nov 99......smoked 2 days off the truck.

Wrapper...nice dark maduro... a few spots and hard veinsL

Love the toro size.....very solid construction. Slightly sweet taste (Maduro wrapper)...nice ash...could use more smoke though

This is a cigar aged 4 years, but it is a little dry now...could use some humidor time to bring out some oilyness...this particular one seems to be a little plugged.

3/4 inch ...nice white/grey ash...great fresh off the truck smoke ....wonderfully tasty cigar..mild right now not peppery or slightly sour

1 and half inch down...draw could be better, but taste is all that I could want.

Knocked off ash and it retained its shape in the ashtray...even tapping it with a pen it stays together...solid little sucker.

Half way thru, flavor has become a little tarrish, not as sublime now,

Flavor has mellowed again, or my tongue has numbed, geez its almost done...

Kind of peppery now... in a good way, full flavored now that its short and the draw is good.

Conclusion: Not a Padron 3000 (which had gobs of smoke and flavor)but pretty darn close and at 25 cigars for $59 a wonderful smoke and a great value.

Thanks to Cayman for the heads up!

Gerry

didn't think I was going to nub this one but it's finishing very strong, that was a good smoke...ouch...time to put this one down.... : )

Great review Jerry

I went through a 5 pack of these a bit ago, and although I enjoyed it, for the price you mention above, I think there are smokes more worthy of that dollar commitment

Ken

ky,

At $2.35 ($59/25) a stick what is better / better value full flavor Maduro?

GT

gerryko- nice to see you enjoyed my recommendation..

always wary about answering "what to buy".. questions..

Anyhow.. like I warned before- Toro Negro is somewhat inconsisitant in visual construction.. never had a problem with the draw though..

I've got another even less expensive maddie I think you'll enjoy. shoot me an e' gerry if you wish and I'll send you a little sampler..

cayman2b

hotmail

Oh! also my fellow forum Bro's...

These can be had at the auctions for well under

$59.00 a box... Just dont tell anyone please..!!

cayman

"Cayman" has some good suggestions on Gar's IMHO he turned me on to the Negro also and the ones I had were very good,no draw problem at all and just the right amount of humi time. The flavor was extremely good comapered to some of the other cupido's I had tried.. I fell this cigar once brought back to it's near perfect state after purchase is a very good Gar to enjoy and the price can be found to be very enojoyable also if you shop around.. JMHO. TinMan

Just speaking of online retail prices, I would choose the following cheaper per stick options over the Toro Negro:

Hoyo De Monterrey or Punch Rothschild Maduro

Purofino Doms Double Maduro

and many that can be had here for good prices (some are non-maduro but IMO, the Toro Negro doesn't taste like a "classic" maduro) that are more to my liking such as the Cuban Crafters Toro, JL Salazar Toro, Puros Indios Viejo Maduro and Carlos Torano Dominican Selection #1 Maduro.

I think I've shared a couple of my secrets...oops!

Love the toro negro. Was lucky enough to get a box at a good price. Letting them get some humi time so I've only smoked one. Pretty much along the lines as the review except that I didn't have any draw problems and there was plenty of smoke. Too early to say if they will all smoke as well, but based on the one I smoked they are a heck of a deal, IMO.

One note: They were a bit drier than I would have liked upon arrival (and I like to keep my cigars drier, as in the 60 -67% range) so I'm hoping the humi time will stabilize them and make them "just right."

I think they are a great smoke, especially for the price. I just bought a box and can't wait to smoke one. They didn't seem dry at all; in fact, I think they just need some time to adjust and let the humidity even out entirely. Sometimes a couple of weeks in the box makes all the difference between poor smoke output and flowing plumes. Good smoke good price

I just had one at the last Seattle herf. I didn't have any draw problems, but the smoke was a little stingy. I didn't get any pepper, but lots of nice charred oak. I also didn't get that characteristic Kiki background flavor that I usually get in the different Cupidos. Definitely a bird of a different feather. My head was swimming by the time I was done. Then again, that was after finishing way too much coffee, and a Cusano Exclusivo Preferido. Not a bad way to end the night though.

Great cigar with age. Rivals the Full Sail from Bucanero with 6 months or more on it.