Southern Draw Kudzu Toro (6 x 52)

Video review HERE

The Kudzu is Southern Draw's initial installment. It is designed to pair well with craft brews, boutique wines and spirits. Southern Draw cigars are made in the AJ Fernandez factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.

(from the Southern Draw website)

RECOMMENDED BEVERAGE PAIRINGS

CRAFT BREW: IPA, PORTER, STOUT, BROWN ALE, SOURS, BOCK AND LAMBICS WINES: PORT, LATE HARVEST, FULL BODY CAB/REDS SPIRITS: SINGLE BARREL WHISKEY/BOURBON, SINGLE MALT SCOTCH, BARREL AGED RUM (12 – 25 YR), BRANDY, XO COGNAC, PREMIUM ANISE AND CINNAMON LIQUEURS

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Cuban-Seed Habano Oscuro

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitola sizes:

ROBUSTO 5.5 X 54

TORO 6 X 52

GORDO 6.5 X 60

Line extensions –

“AXIL” LANCERO 6.5 X 40

CODE DUELLO – SEMI BOX PRESSED, PERFECTO

– 6 x 56 – DOUBLE OSCURO WRAPPER

– 5 x 58 – DOUBLE OMETEPE WRAPPER

The cigar is a medium brown with reddish tones. It is well made and the foot is closed.

The test draw after cutting the cap was a bit firm but that was probably due to the closed foot. I lit the cigar and the draw improved. The initial flavors were a citrus flavor which combined with an apple flavor. There was also caramel and brown sugar. There was a black coffee base and black pepper which I rated at a 7. The initial flavors were pretty good.

2 inches in (28 minutes) the sweetness is really going down. Now there is a leathery flavor and the coffee is quite earthy. Together they give the cigar a "dirty" flavor. They overwhelm the sweeter flavors. The cigar has gone from one extreme to the other. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is short and has the flavor of a leathery cream with a minor amount of lingering black pepper. The cigar has lost some points from the initial light up. My score for the first third is an 87.

At the 2/3 point (56 minutes) the cigar is burning evenly and we're already at an hour. However, the cigar continues to go downhill. It has lost more sweetness. The leathery earthy coffee is dominant. The pepper is still pretty good and it's actually up on the finish. The sweet flavors are 2/3 to 3/4 of what they were at the first third. The finish is now one of leather. With the decreased sweetness and greatly increased leathery earthy coffee the second third score is an 85.

The cigar lasted 1 hour 15 minutes. It continued on it's downhill trajectory. The sweet flavors were very faint at the end while the leathery earthy coffee was quite dominant. The strength remained at medium bodied. The finish was unchanged. The cigar started with such promise. Had I scored the initial flavors I would have given it an 89. However, that was the high point for me. The cigar went downhill from there. The final third score was an 83. Even though the average of all the scores is actually an 85 I am using personal discretion in my final score. I had high hopes for this cigar but it did not live up to my expectations. I have 2 other Southern Draw cigars to review so perhaps they will do better.

Overall Score: 84