Black Crown Toro

Most people haven’t heard of the Black Crown brand, let alone this cigar, but this is not a cigar that should be overlooked. It comes from the respected Raices Cubanas factory in Danli, Honduras, which is home to dozens of 90+ rated cigars. What makes this cigar amazing is the seven (that’s right, seven) different Honduran and Nicaraguan vintage Cuban-seed long-fillers. If that’s not enough for you, it is then bound with an earthy Honduran Habano and rich Nicaraguan ligero then finished with a beautiful Honduran Habano wrapper that is oily, rich, and leathery. This robust combination and extensive aging leads to notes of earth, toasted peanut, cocoa, and cedar, with a dash of black pepper on the finish. Extremely flavorful, we paired ours with a Islay Scotch.

Honduras has been a tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing area for hundreds of years, but it was the Communist revolution in Cuba that really put Honduras on the map. In the 1960s, many Cuban cigar makers fled their homeland and arrived in Honduras to re-establish their way of life. The immigrants took advantage of the climate, soil, and geography, which were well-suited to tobacco growing, and began producing high quality cigars. The center of the Honduran cigar industry is the city of Danli and the nearby Jamastran Valley. The majority of the world’s pure Corojo tobacco is grown here, now that Cuba has stopped production of this iconic, spicy, and rich variety in favor of Corojo hybrids. Other important areas of Honduran cigar production include the Talanga Valley, Copan, and Trojes.