Thursday, February 10, 2022

GTO Cigars Pain Killer Maduro Toro in Review

lo-fi & lovely

GTO Cigars Pain Killer Maduro Toro in Review

WRAPPER: Dominican
BINDER: Dominican
FILLER: Dominican

FORMAT: Toro (654) box-press
ORIGIN: Tabacalera GTO Dominicana
INTENSITY: Medium-Full/Full

NOTES:
Dark chocolate | Leather | Smoked Butterscotch 

Smoked butterscotch, then that in a latte form as the black pepper front smoothes out of the gate and said espresso drink hits, clings there. An umami-rich dense leathery composted earthen core churns out all those and following notes. Including a heavy dark-toasted grain mash bill. Heavy tropical floral notes come in on the long bitter-sweet finish. Grows more smoky attachments via progression, tickles at creosote here and there. 

Spices mingle about, cumin, paprika. Nicely delineated by a scorched hickory structure that's well-rounded at its edges by savory creams. Good balance weighted heavily-so. Feels like a meal in the gut. Not super-complex outside of the interesting latte note but well and deeply nuanced. A sneaky amount of chillaxin' strength. A bit of a bruiser but on his best (if not awkwardly so) behavior.

The burn-line does require some retouches along the way. Smoke out-put is a bit helter-skelter but remains in the realm of voluminous. Heavy room-note. Aromas are a more dessert-ish look at primary notes. The box-press holds, as do seams and cap/shoulder assemblage. No softening of pack although it pinches pre-light as a tick un-evenly filled. A slightly wiggly draw tension persists. I feel as though this wants smoked with a spiced rum pairing. Who am I to argue? Next time.

TASTE: B+
DRAW: B
BURN: B
BUILD: B+

FINAL GRADE: B+
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79

::: very :::