BACKGROUND: On August 1st of 2010, the Toraño family once again took the reins of the distribution of their own brands. To add to this exciting news, Toraño launched a new company name, a new logo and two retail exclusive cigar brands.

Toraño Family Cigar Company introduced the first release in its Single Region Series at the IPCPR trade show in August 2010. The concept highlights the different characteristics of tobaccos grown on individual farms in various regions in the world’s best tobacco-producing countries. Like a single-farm wine or single-plantation coffee, each Single Region Series will feature a blend that is created entirely from tobaccos grown on one carefully selected finca, or farm, in one particular region. The blend’s flavor and aroma is intended to reflect the influence of the region’s soil and weather. The Toraños then apply their well-known blending artistry to reveal the character of each region’s tobacco.

In early 2008, the company began experimenting with blends of tobacco from only one farm. The first release, Serie Jalapa, features a blend of tobacco from the El Estero Farm in Jalapa, Nicaragua. A centuries-old, natural stream on the property irrigates this small farm, located in the country's northernmost growing province. The mineral-rich water, together with the sandy, red clay soil, enables this farm to grow some of the finest and most aromatic tobacco in the world.

Single Region-Serie Jalapa is wrapped in an attractive Criollo ‘98 wrapper and comes in three sizes: a 6-inch x 54 ring Toro Grande, a 7-inch x 50 Churchill, and the cigar I'm featuring today, a 5-inch x 52 ring gauge Robusto.

TASTING NOTES: This cigar starts out very spicy with some good tobacco sweetness and a bit of walnut-skin-bite. That slightly bitter taste on the forepalate resolves quickly as the Serie Jalapa Robusto has a nice earthy fullness to the finish. This earthy richness provides a lingering texture on the palate, which is quite nice. The retrohale provides a retro-burn of white pepper and numbed my nasal mucosa.

The burn line was even, though slightly blistered and the ash was dark gray and moderately consistent. The draw was a little tighter than I like to see it, but nothing to write home about. I found the Serie Jalapa to be medium to full in body and flavor and medium in strength.

FINAL THOUGHTS: The more samples that I smoke of the Toraño Serie Jalapa, the more complexity and nuance I can detect. At first, this seems like a pretty straightforward cigar, but as I concentrate on the smoke, I perceive different nuances on different parts of the palate from the beginning of each puff to the aftertaste. This is a challenging and interesting smoke that exemplifies the blending creativity of the Toraño's and that showcases the Jalapa region tobaccos.

The Serie Jalapa has plenty of earthy goodness, spice and tobacco sweetness. I can highly recommend these cigars to experienced cigar smokers. The fullness of flavor and body make these a fine after dinner smoke and will provide your palate with adventurous ride.