The Particulars

This LEGACY review for the Casa de Garcia Sumatra - Toro (5.5 x 50) is based on the journal entry dated 2024-10-21.

Note: My original review format only had a single overall score of 1 to 5 with the “Buy it Again?” value assessment.  This mean’s there’s no sectioned scoring for different factors and I didn’t capture data for my flavor wheel, which may be blank.  If I have journaled the cigar again since I began capturing flavor wheel data, that data will be present.  If the cigar is still available to me, I will eventually replace the legacy review with one in the current format. 

Much like the other two, you get the Dominican / Honduran blend, but they use the Maduro CT Broadleaf for the binder and cover that with a Sumatra wrapper. It was by far the most attractive of the bunch and didn’t give off any red flags handling it. So far, so good!

Like the others, the cold smell was pleasant but generic. Lit, it was earthy and leathery. There was some nuttiness and it was sweeter than the other two, but very earthy. It had some bitterness to it as well that I wasn’t enjoying at all, and left a funky aftertaste. Like a bad date, I hung in there for a bit to see if things would get better, but this was a one-trick pony and it never improved. So just like that bad date, I bailed halfway through. 😅

On the bright side, the draw was so much better than the other two. Like night and day. But like the CT, it had some issues with tunneling and waviness on the burn. Construction quality is a consistent issue with the Casa line.

Ultimately, I only got about halfway through this stick. It was burning fine, but the blend never improved enough to offset the bitterness. It wasn’t worth subjecting myself to a rather unpleasant smoke. You know how they say: the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Of the three, I could see getting the Connecticut for a large group of mostly non-smokers that wouldn’t break the bank. The Maduro could have possibly been the best if it wasn’t a hot mess with its construction. But the Sumatra was just disappointing.

Science! 🔥 Now I need to brush my teeth and chew some gum to get the taste out. 😅

Review Base Rating (0-5):

1.00

Would I Buy It Again?

Don't count on it (hot garbage)

Review Final Score (0-10):

1.33

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!