West Tampa White Toro Test Report

West Tampa White Toro on the test bench. Rick Rodriguez and his team have created a great new cigar brand. I like the photos of the brand launch, the boxes, the formats and the cigar ring. And the taste? Here is my review. Yes, but who is Rick Rodriquez? He was the master blender at CAO. The automatic text correction initially turned CAO into CIA. Don't worry, the cigar contains no transmitters.

Tasting notes from the West Tampa White Toro

The Analysis I performed with the Cigars.Zone Testing Tool by. Explanations to the ZiZo R+ smoke technology you can find here.

External impression before lighting

Format: Toro (ring 52 / length 152 mm)

Price: Status March 2023 / CHF 13.50 / box of 20 CHF 270.00/ EUR 10.50 / box of 20 EUR 210.00

Recommended acclimatization in humidor in cellophane: 10 days

The color and the cover sheet: Color: Medium brown / The cover sheet looks good

The construction and cold draft: Almost no flavor, very little sweetness

General impression after lighting in the first 5 minutes

The lighting and the draw resistance: Lighting takes a little longer than usual

The burn, the strength and the taste: The burn is a little slanted in the first 5 minutes and needs the flame to correct itself. The taste is pleasant, slightly peppery and woody. Perhaps even a little earth.

Impression during the smoke

Aftertaste and aroma (scent of smoke = room note)

First half: pleasantly persistent / aroma: rich (pleasantly fragrant)

Second half: pleasantly persistent / aroma: somewhat burnt

Taste on the tongue

First half: Wood, some earth, nutty, slightly sweetish, pleasant.

Second half: Wood, a little more earth, more nutty, slightly sweetish, a little leather, pleasant.

Retronasal

First half: pepper and somehow "fresh". So, something "fresh", like a light breeze from the sea?

Second half: more pepper, wood, earth

ZiZo R+ Technology

First half: Lots of cocoa (dark chocolate), roasted almonds, coffee beans

Second half: Lots of cocoa and lots of coffee beans

Course of enjoyment and conclusion

Course of enjoyment: First half linear and little development. BUT: From the second half, a nice increase with aromatic nuances.

Conclusion:

West Tampa is a great new cigar brand. Rick Rodriguez and his team have created something great here. Below in the resources on the topic you will find the presentation of the brand as well as the tasting reports on the White and Black lines.

The aforementioned crooked firing hardly ever occurs in the first half. The flame must correct it.

The taste is characterized by a lot of wood, cocoa, light sweetness, nut and some earth. The strength is 3/5 and the Toro gave me an enjoyable smoke of over 1.5 hours.

I think the Anilla (cigar ring) is great. What is your experience with this cigar? I look forward to your comment (you must be registered and logged in).

A cigar test is subjective. The taste of a cigar is influenced by personal taste preferences, taste memories, the mood of the day, what you have eaten or drunk beforehand. Even the lighting in the room influences the taste experience. The flavor nuances described here therefore do not necessarily correspond to your own impressions.

Resources on the topic

West Tampa presentation of the brand and tasting reports at Zigarren.Zone

Find West Tampa White Toro on Google

Download Cigars.Zone PDF Tasting Tool

Helpful Cigar Tips: From "retronasal", "R+ technique", about "umami" to the difference of cigars storage between Non Cuba and Cuba.