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Cigar Review: Don Tomas Sun Grown
By Jason | May 9, 2008
Brand: Don Tomas
Line: Sun Grown
Vitola: Robusto 5 x 50
Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduran Jamastran
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Flavor: Mild
Strength: Mild
Price: $72.00 (Box of 25)
I took the family on a road trip to the zoo this weekend to see the amazing, catatonic pandas. I soon learned that nothing can sleep harder or longer than a panda. After three hours of zoo time, we made our way across town to the gigantic, extremely crowded, no parking space having mall. Luckily, I found a space only about 2 miles from the entrance with a Tinderbox. So, splitting from the pack, I closed myself off from the rest of the world while I perused the wares. Fifteen minutes later, I leave with a thinner wallet and a smile on my face. When we finally made it home, it was time to fire up the grill and a cigar. Ok. Enough. On with the review.
I chose the Don Tomas Sun Grown Robusto to review not for its incredible complexity, but because I found it to be my perfect grill gar. I’ll explain that statement later. This medium brown Honduran puro was released by General Cigar in August 2007 and consists of tobacco aged for three years. It’s not the best Sun Grown on the market, but for the money, its not too far away.
Construction:
This is probably one of the top ten best constructed cigars I have ever smoked. It is firm from foot to cap with very small veins. It has a nice smooth wrapper with a floral and hay fragrance. I was afraid the draw would be too tight because of the firmness and weight of the cigar, but I was wrong. It has just the right amount of resistance to keep me from smoking too fast, yet allows clouds of thick smoke. The light gray ash held firm until I flicked it off. It has a nice amount of resting smoke with a mild, pleasant aroma.
Burn:
Oh, baby. Let’s talk burn. This cigar has a burn as straight as I’ve ever seen. No touch ups required throughout the entire smoke. Any uneven burn it may have had corrected itself very quickly. There is no need to babysit this cat. This is the type of burn you want when you have something else to do besides rotate, touchup, and/or relight. Again, perfect grill gar.
Flavor:
This cigar has a base flavor of nuts, wood, and a little spice, plus a little something extra that I couldn’t put my finger on until the second third: tea. Not grandma’s two cups of sugar to a gallon of Lipton (sweet tea for those of you up north), but a nice mild Earl Grey. These flavors don’t hit you full force by any means. The flavors are very mild, yet easily traceable. It’s not something that will satisfy you after a hefty steak dinner, but if you need something to smoke and you haven’t eaten in a while, this won’t knock your socks off. It is marketed as a medium bodied smoke, but I just didn’t feel it.
Verdict:
I enjoyed this cigar as a cigar to smoke while I am doing something else. It’s not something I would want to smoke to take my mind off of a trying day at work. When I grill, I like to focus most of my attention on the act of cooking. I just need a dependable cigar that can get me through. This one has a flavor profile I like, construction that can’t be beat, and the price is right. I’m going to try to keep some of these for occasions such as this.
This cigar has the same flavor profile as the Arturo Fuente Sun Grown, but to a lesser extent. If you want a Fuente Sun Grown and are on a tight budget, those can easily cure your craving. For about $3 a pop, you can’t miss.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Tags: Arturo Fuente, Cigar Reviews, Don Tomas Cigars, General Cigar, Sun Grown
Topics: Cigar Reviews |
May 10th, 2008 at 8:12 am
[…] A very good value in this perfect grill cigar, according to Jason. Read the full review here… […]