San Isidro Toro by HVC Cigars (6 x 52)

Video review HERE.


San Isidro gets it's name from a street in Havana where Alberto Yarini, an infamous Cuban gangster, was killed in 1910.

The blend is an Ecuadorian habano wrapper, a binder from the Jalapa region of Nicaragua and fillers from Estelí. The blend is offered in a single 6 x 52 box-pressed size.

The cigar debuted at the 2016 IPCPR.

The cigar is very dark and box pressed. It has a dense feel in the hand.

The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors were a tangy, sweet orange citrus with sprinkles of cinnamon, dark chocolate, and espresso. There was black pepper rated at an 8. The flavors remind me of a chocolate covered orange candy.

One inch in (14 minutes) I noticed some light cream notes in the mix. The dark chocolate has little to no sweetness. All the sweetness comes from the citrus notes. The cinnamon adds a nice touch. The chocolate and espresso notes are the lead flavors with the citrus and cinnamon following far behind, and the cream notes even further. The finish has aspects of the dark chocolate and cream with some nice lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium to full bodied at this early stage.

At the midpoint (36 minutes) the cigar has not made any changes except it is now full bodied. The finish is also unchanged. The flavor intensities are also unchanged with the dark chocolate and espresso leading the way. The citrus, cinnamon, and cream are quite a bit behind.

The cigar lasted 1 hour 20 minutes. Smoke this cigar slowly to get the best flavors. The dark chocolate and espresso notes continued to dominate. In the final third the citrus notes were almost indistinguishable. You could still taste the cinnamon but the cream notes were gone. While I tend to like dark noted cigars I also want a significant amount of sweetness and this cigar fell short. I still enjoyed the cigar as it is but if it had 50% more of the orange citrus and cinnamon notes it would have scored much higher. If you like dark noted cigars with light sweetness this is a good cigar for you.

Score: 92