Up for review is the Torano Colosseum cigar. This cigar has a cedar smell, veiny wrapper, and good draw after cutting. Once lit up, it starts off with a delicious blend of sweet and creamy flavor with a hint of spice. Unfortunately things trended downwards from there. Two of the sticks were plagued with construction issues caused by large stems. Overall, we loved that first third but can’t recommend a cigar that has large stems in the filler. There’s worse choices out there, but we recommend passing on this one.
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Rating:
Flavor and Taste: 14/20
Construction: 10/10
Wrapper: 4/5
Price Point: 9/10
Would I buy a Box: 2/5
Total: 39/50
IamDarren: Rating:
Flavor and Taste: 14/20
Construction: 7/10
Wrapper: 4/5
Price Point: 9/10
Would I buy a Box: 2/5
Total: 36/50
Terry1: Rating:
Flavor and Taste: 15/20
Construction: 9/10
Wrapper: 4/5
Price Point: 9/10
Would I buy a Box: 3/5
Total: 40/50
7:41 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: My Torano Colosseum has a faint cedar smell to it, a veiny wrapper leaf, and a good draw after cutting.
7:41 PM
IamDarren: Yeah im getting sweet cedar and spice off the wrapper. Fairly strong aroma on mine.
7:42 PM
IamDarren: Sort of a dull earthy / woody note on the cold draw though
7:42 PM
Terry1: Mine cigar has some major veins. Draw is good with a hint of cedar and sweetness. Lighting up.
7:42 PM
IamDarren: I would say mine is a medium draw. Lighting up also
7:44 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Wow, these first couple puffs are incredibly sweet and creamy.
7:45 PM
IamDarren: agree, mild and creamy. A little wood, spice and sweetness
7:46 PM
Terry1: I got the same. Not the start I expected. Loads of smoke. Good blend of flavors to start with.
7:47 PM
IamDarren: Don’t like where mine is headed. Draw started to tighten up and introduced a bitter acidity. After working it and rolling it I was able to open it back up.
7:49 PM
IamDarren: there are quite a few stems at the head, I think that is where the issue is.
7:50 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Too early for that, hopefully you can burn through it. I inspected the foot and there’s 2 stems there.
7:51 PM
Terry1: Mine looks fine. Draw is still good. I’m liking the smoke. There’s an interesting sweetness to it. I do get a bitter, maybe black coffee, note on the finish.
7:51 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Early on in my smoking career I never would have known to look for stems. These days we can find and fix most construction issues pretty quickly.
7:53 PM
IamDarren: mine must have something else going on as well. At has a strange spot burning through on one side above the burn line and I don’t get much smoke production unless I double or triple draw.
7:55 PM
Terry1: I’m having the same issue with puffing several times to get the cigar smoking. Maybe these were cheap for a reason.
7:56 PM
IamDarren: ugh. Sweetness is gone. Nothing but bitter char and spice now. I think it is because im having to take such a heavy draw to get much smoke.
7:58 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Mine is still burning well. I do have a faint bitterness, but it’s only that of black coffee like Terry mentioned. Overall, flavor is decent, but it will need to turn around and improve. Those first few puffs though… whew those were good.
7:58 PM
Terry1: Sorry Darren. Mine is smoking well and tastes good. Sounds like you got the dud tonight.
7:59 PM
IamDarren: guess so, that’s ok. I can’t figure it out. It has some resting smoke and doesn’t act like it wants to go out but it is a real chore to get much smoke on the draw.
8:01 PM
IamDarren: Decided to upgrade the wife’s laptop to Win 10 (in case I hated it ) Its a whole lot better than windows 8. I just don’t like the start menu. I like to arrange my taskbar on windows 7 with the things I really want and not have all the fluf.
8:02 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: I agree, I like it. Can’t believe it was free.
8:03 PM
Terry1: I’d like to upgrade to Win 10 but I have to wait for our network guys to give the okay. Those that upgraded anyway are having loads of issues connecting to everything.
8:03 PM
IamDarren: I really really really like to have my Computer menu with the physical drives listed in the taskbar and Win 10 makes it real hard to find it.
8:06 PM
IamDarren: Im almost certain I burned through a big stem about 2 inches down the cigar. Once I got past it the burn evened up and the flavor has really improved.
8:06 PM
Terry1: I’m liking the sweetness of this cigar but it is annoying to have to puff 6 or 7 times to get a good mouthful of smoke.
8:07 PM
IamDarren: smoke production is much better now on mine
8:07 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: My sweetness has all faded, now mainly tasting that bitter dark coffee flavor. Holding out hope over here.
8:08 PM
IamDarren: creaminess is back on mine with an earthy undertone and a hint of coffee. Still very mild cigar.
8:10 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: So I got a smoker for my birthday from the wife. We did a brisket last weekend… boy was that scary cooking an $80 piece of meat!
8:13 PM
Terry1: I was expecting this to happen after what you guys have mentioned, the burn is all over the place. I’ve got a hole burning through about a quarter inch from a very wavy burn line. So far it hasn’t affected the flavors but it is ugly.
8:15 PM
IamDarren: Starting to think they throw all the scraps from their premium sticks in this thing.
8:15 PM
IamDarren: How did the brisket turn out Matt? So far my favorite thing to cook is Pork Butt.
8:16 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Everything turned out perfect. Was about a 10 hour smoke. Thick smoke ring and nice bark on it. We’re doing trout this weekend. Haven’t tried a pork butt yet.
8:17 PM
Terry1: Ugh, Now there’s a noticeable bitterness that wasn’t there, a few puffs ago, on the finish. I agree this must be made with second rate tobaccos.
8:17 PM
IamDarren: lol, mine got better just in time for yours to turn bad
8:18 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Mine is chugging along, more of the same – bitter dark coffee flavor. Not much else going on.
8:24 PM
Terry1: I must have burned through a stem. Burn has self corrected and the bitterness is gone. Just creamy sweetness again.
8:24 PM
IamDarren: yeah mine is still the same. Burning fine now. Creamy, hint of sweetness, earth, and coffee.
8:26 PM
Terry1: By the way I paid 2 bucks each for these. It’s better than I was expecting for the price even with the problems.
8:27 PM
IamDarren: Ahh, speak for yourself. I take pride in stealing premium cigars on cbid for 2 or 3 bucks a stick
8:28 PM
IamDarren: I did notice that they are sold in bundles
8:29 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: I don’t know, probably the same old story
8:30 PM
IamDarren: I think im turning into a Torano hater. I keep having his sticks and not being impressed. Sometimes they aren’t bad (like this one) but never really impress me. What the story on that new one… the brick?
8:31 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: I think you’re just reading the CI descriptions
8:31 PM
IamDarren: : I keep reading all this stuff about him being a master blender and all the 90+ ratings. I don’t get it.
8:31 PM
Terry1: I don’t try many Toranos either since they were bought out. The ones I have tried are hit or miss. Mostly miss.
8:31 PM
IamDarren: bought out? did I miss something
8:32 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: General owns them now.
8:33 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: That’s probably why they’re getting more press these days.
8:33 PM
Terry1: Yeah it they sucked up Luccia at the same time. But he seems to be doing okay.
8:33 PM
IamDarren: decided to retract that, I don’t need any enemies in the cigar industry
8:34 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: There are good $2 and $3 cigars out there this isn’t one of them. Mine has actually taken a turn for the worse, the bitterness is increasing rapidly.
8:35 PM
IamDarren: was just about to say the same thing, mine is loosing the creamy character and becoming dry. More of that char coming through with the coffee. Just into the last third.
8:37 PM
Terry1: Mine is still tasting good. Based on my experience I’d buy a few more but knowing I have a good chance of getting a dud would make me hesitate to pull the trigger.
8:38 PM
IamDarren: I will admit that it getting really hard to find a decent 2 dollar stick. 5 or 6 years ago maybe but everything has gone up a couple bucks since then it seems like.
8:40 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: I present to you, the good $2 stick: http://straightupcigars.com/espinosa-la-zona-proxy-no-24-cigar-review/
[Espinosa La Zona Proxy No. 24 – Cigar Review]
Espinosa La Zona Proxy No. 24 – Cigar Review
8:40 PM
Terry1: Oh yeah! I still smoke those.
8:41 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Nice! That is a damn good cigar for $2.
8:41 PM
IamDarren: yeah I smoked the one you sent a liked it
8:42 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: But you’re right Darren, they’re a rare breed these days. Either that or we’re getting pickier.
8:43 PM
IamDarren: i am being temped by this deal, but don’t know if they are the same as the ones i got a couple years ago:http://www.cigarsinternational.com/cigars/99945/padilla-habano-torpedo/#p-188975
[Padilla Habano Torpedo – Cigars International]
Padilla Habano Torpedo – Cigars International
8:44 PM
Terry1: I saw those too and had the same thought. I liked the original ones but are these different?
8:44 PM
Terry1: Padilla is another brand that are hit or miss for me.
8:44 PM
IamDarren: well its hard for me to believe that they quit making them for a few years and then just pick up where they left off
8:45 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: True, I’d be skeptical.
8:45 PM
Terry1: Good point.
8:46 PM
Terry1: That Flores y Rodriguez is another good cigar for less than $2. I just bought another five pack for $8.
8:46 PM
IamDarren: there was another Padilla that i got several of about 5 years ago. Can’t remember the blend but mine had Miami written on the band and the newer ones didn’t. Everyone said the new ones weren’t half the cigar that the old ones were.
8:47 PM
IamDarren: completely agree on the FyR. Really like that one.
8:47 PM
Terry1: I’m about done if you want to rate.
8:47 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: I set my Torano down, it’s not getting any better unfortunately. If only the whole smoke was as good as those first puffs!
8:48 PM
IamDarren: Nica Libre and Cuba Libre are both good and fairly cheap. Haven’t bought any in awhile.
8:48 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: I haven’t either Darren, I love those Cuba Libre cigars.
8:49 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Every time I check they’re only selling those 5×55 size on the bid site though, I want the smaller robustos
8:49 PM
IamDarren: Actually i just smoked one of those Estrella Cubanas today and liked it quit a bit after some aging. It was the corona.
8:50 PM
IamDarren: i can rate
8:51 PM
IamDarren: and i really like these coronas:http://www.cigarsinternational.com/cigars/11472/la-aurora-1495-series/
[La Aurora 1495 Series – Cigars International]
La Aurora 1495 Series – Cigars International
8:51 PM
IamDarren: they quit making the 1495 so they are on sale
8:52 PM
Terry1: Good to know. I’ve seen those but haven’t tried them yet.
8:54 PM
IamDarren: Come on Torano, surely one of these days we will fine one we really like
8:55 PM
Terry1: I’d recommend trying one. If you get a good one I think it’s worth it. I wouldn’t buy a bundle with the issues we had tonight.
8:56 PM
IamDarren: yeah 2 out of 3 had construction issues. Not the best odds.
8:57 PM
StraightUpCigars – Matt: Yeah, really no excuse on these, they can do better.
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