Herrera Esteli Toro (6 x 52)

Video review HERE.


This is one of the newest cigars from Drew Estates. It is their version of a Cuban-esque cigar. The blend is the creation of Willie Herrera, who was formerly blending cigars at the El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami. Now working for Drew Estates, he has come up with this cigar.

This cigar is rolled in the entubado style. It is the most difficult rolling style. It involves carefully rolling individual filler leaves into scroll-like tubes and placing them next to each other in the bunch. This allows for maximum airflow and a sharp burn.

This cigar is triple capped and looks fantastic. It is a medium brown in color.
















Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan (Jalapa and Esteli)


The cigar foot showing the entubado bunching and density.

I decided to punch cut this cigar. The test draw was very good. The initial flavors took quite awhile to nail down. I was at least 1/2 inch into the cigar before I settled on the flavors, which were cedar, grapefruit citrus, oak, cream, and earth notes. The pepper is a 6. The ash very smooth looking. The finish is one of cream with little lingering pepper.



About one inch in I reevaluated my initial assessment and I'm satisfied it was correct. The only minor changes are there is a little bitterness in the citrus and a little sweetness in the cedar. There are quite a bit of oak notes. The earthiness is in the base. The cream notes that I mentioned earlier have gone away but there is an oak flavor on the cream finish. The pepper now is a 7. The cigar is burning with a sharp burn. The cigar is medium bodied.





Close to the midpoint the cedar notes are a little sweeter and the grapefruit citrus is decreased. The oak notes are still prominent and the earthiness is still holding the bottom. The oaky cream is still holding the finish. There is a touch of lingering pepper now. The cigar is still medium bodied.








The cigar did not change any further. This cigar surprised me a little. It lacks the typical Nicaraguan sweetness that other Nicaraguan cigars have. There is just a touch of sweetness on the cedar and not a significant amount. Perhaps a smaller ring version of this cigar would be better. I would like to hear from you if you have had the other sizes of this cigar. I really liked the flavors of cedar, grapefruit, and oak but the lack of sweetness really held the score down for me.


Score: 89