Cruz Real cigars are made exclusively for the Famous Smoke Shop by Rocky Patel. The cigars are available in five sizes, and are made with Dominican and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos, a Mexican binder, and your choice of either a Connecticut Natural or Dark Sumatra wrapper. Our friend Gary Korb at Famous Smoke provided a couple of Robustos and Toros to sample, one with each type of wrapper. The Robusto size measures five inches long with a ring gauge of 50, and the Toro measures six inches long with a ring gauge of 52.
Flavor
The first two cigars I smoked were the Natural Toro and Sumatra Robusto. I was not impressed with either cigar, although I preferred the Sumatra over the Natural. Since the cigars were in my humidor for only two weeks, I decided to wait an additional month before smoking the Sumatra Toro and Natural Robusto. An extra month of aging in the humidor really made a significant difference. The first Natural cigar tasted dry and peppery, and was hard to light, but the second Natural cigar was much smoother and had a spicy flavor. The Natural cigars were medium bodied, and the Sumatra cigars were much fuller with more richness and complexity. After smoking a Natural and Sumatra cigar two times back to back, I can say that the fuller and richer flavor of the Sumatra wrapper was only too obvious.Here is how I rate each cigar:
- Natural Toro, aged 2 weeks, 2 Stars
- Natural Robusto, aged 6 weeks, 2 ½ to 3 Stars
- Sumatra Robusto, aged 2 weeks, 2 ½ Stars
- Sumatra Toro, aged 6 weeks, 3 to 3 ½ Stars
Draw and Construction
All four cigars had very good draws, and all cigars burned just slightly uneven at times. However, none of the cigars required relights or even touchups. The Robustos both lasted about 30-35 minutes down to two inches, while the Toros each smoked for a good hour. As previously mentioned, there was only one problem experienced in initially lighting the Toro Natural, which took quite a while to fire up.Value
Cruz Real Robusto and Toro cigars will cost you more than $5 per stick, when purchased by the box. When on sale, select sizes can be less than $4 per stogie if purchased in a five pack. For a list of all sizes, the brand has its own website at cruzreal.com. At these price points, I would only recommend trying a five pack with the Sumatra wrappers when they are on sale. Click on the "Compare Prices" button to check for current prices and specials. In addition, these cigars are only recommended for more experienced smokers, and the cigars will have to be aged for a couple of months or so to bring out their true flavor.
