The Reserva Original by Plasencia Cigars

I had previously reviewed the Robusto and really enjoyed that, but a different vitola demands its own review. 

BRAND / CO:  Plasencia
CIGAR:  Reserva Original
VITOLA:  Toro - 6" x 50
STRENGTH:  Mellow - Medium
WRAPPER:  Nicaraguan, Natural
BINDER:  Nicaragua
FILLER:  Nicaragua
ORIGIN:  Nicaragua, Plasencia Cigars S.A.

APPEARANCE & CONSTRUCTION:   Good
Like the Robusto, this bad boy is dense and weighty.  It's a nice medium brown that has very light mottling and just a hint of sheen.  This example only has a few veins but they're thin.  The seams are tight and the triple cap is perfect.  Overall, it's a very good looking cigar and as always, Plasencia has great looking and high quality bands.

DRAW & BURN:   Average / Good
The draw is tight to start, but not plugged.  I'm going to see if heat opens it up or I find the need for the draw tool.   I think it's tight by the head so I give it a little roll to help and that opens it up.  The burn starts beautifully with a dead even char line that quickly gets uneven before self correcting back to even.  The ash is a light gray with even striations that starts to drop clumpy flakes from the foot as it begins to petal. It looks like a thicker vein in the binder is curling and creating that single petal as it burns.  That split weakened the ash so it didn't last long, but overall it held decently and burned well for the rest of the smoke.

FLAVOR PROFILE:   Excellent
Baking spice, light pepper, breadiness, cedar and a caramel sweet hit immediately on light up.   I'm getting nutmeg and cinnamon in that baking spice mix and a hint of vanilla.  The sweet here is stronger and darker, a kind of caramel to brown sugar but then you get moments of fruity sweetness that cut.  That breadiness is getting toasty with cinnamon and the bits of fruity sweetness, I'm thinking of toasted cinnamon raisin bread because there's a slight buttery savoriness that's wrapped up in a thick and creamy finish.  There's occasional hints of almond nuttiness, cocoa and coffee, which you would expect with a Nicaraguan puro.  Overall, the flavors hold pretty constant for the duration of the smoke.   I think the biggest difference from the Robusto to the Toro is the Toro seemed to bring more sweet and spice than what I remember about the Robusto.

And yes I largely copied and pasted my Robusto review because from the written standpoint, the general description of the profile didn't change. 

 But these two cigars are pretty close in ring gauge, more of a difference in length, so I didn't expect any major differences.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE:   Great
When I smoked the Robusto, I wondered if a longer vitola would offer more transition.  It doesn't, but that's ok because this is a really fantastic smoke overall.  I think what I like most about this cigar is it dispels two notions; first that you can't get a good mellower Nicaraguan puro, and second that mellow cigars need to be short on flavor and spice.  This one had some draw and burn issues that the Robusto didn't, but it's definitely a cigar that's high on my list for milder blends.

Purchase Singles and by the Box HERE

Reviewed by Sean McCloskey of The Collective