Omar Ortez Original Toro Review

[borndead1]

Picked up a 5er of these on c bid. They went in the fridge for 1 day, freezer for 1 day, fridge for 1 more day, and into the Avanti they went. I was gonna let 'em sit for a while, but they look so damn good and I got a good deal, so I said "Aww, f**k it, I'm gonna fire one up."

Appearance: Unbanded, no cello. Some large veins in the wrapper but IMO a very nice looking stick. The wrapper is a nice dark brown, almost Maduro. Rolled very well, very nice tidy foot. For some reason I like the look of nekkid unbanded cigars. These are Nicaraguan puros, and I guess they are supposed to be some kind of RP Edge copycat, coming nekkid in big boxes of 60.

The first thing I noticed when I picked one of these up is they are HEAVY. I mean the kind of heavy that makes you say "Damn, these are heavy" and hold the cigar in the palm of your hand pondering the weight. At first I was thinking maybe they were too moist and I better not smoke one, but I clipped it and checked the draw and it was fine, and the pre-light draw had a nice earthy tobacco flavor, so I toasted the foot and lit it up.

Burn: Fair. It was a little too moist after all, and the burn needed a few touch ups. The burn was also SLOW, man! At 6 X 54, I figured this to be about a 1.5 hr smoke. At 1 hour, I was about HALF done!

Body/flavor: Medium/full. I've never had an Edge, so I really can't compare, but this cigar was pretty smooth but full flavored with a nice but fairly short finish. The first 1/3 gave me a little bite in the nostrils. Strangely, I thought this cigar tasted very similar to the few Pepin blends I've tried (JFR, El Rey de los Habanos). No discernable "food" flavors or anything like that, just a nice CIGAR flavor with a slight tartness on the finish. The "strength" of this cigar stayed pretty consistent, it didn't get harsh or bitter. Flavor was pretty consistent and one-dimensional until the last 1/3 when I noticed a nice sweetness on the draw and toastiness on the finish. I was surprised at how smooth this cigar smoked only 1 day outta the fridge. I puffed, rolled, and "French inhaled" noticing different flavors and aromas with each method. I gotta say, I REALLY liked this stick!

Overall: Nice cigar. Not a powerhouse by any means, but not for the Macanudo crowd either. I don't know if I would pull the trigger on a whole box though. 60 cigars is a bigass box. I will absolutely snap up a few more 5 packs though.

Thanks for reading.

[QiCultivator]

I just had one of these today. I went into my B&M and picked one out. I am not sure why I picked this one but the price was a factor. I didn't really want to spend $10+ for a Padilla Miami 8&11 or a VSG so I got this one.

There is not a whole lot written about these cigars from what I have seen. I liked the flavor. I have had a couple of RP Edge cigars and this is not too different IMO, which is a good thing. The smoke coming off the foot smelled VERY similar to what I remember the Edge smelling like. These are not as full as, say, JdN Antanos but it is on the full side of medium I would say. I am terrible at describing flavors so I won't even try here. I need some more practice with tasting.

This was a quicker smoke for me, only last a little over an hour. Maybe I was puffing faster, I'm not sure. Anyway, I will probably try to score a 5-pack on cbid. You can usually get them for around $10.

[NCRadioMan]

Full side of medium sounds right to me. I found them to be bitter. Maybe time will help.

[billybarue]

FWIW, this cigar just was just ranked as the #2 Corona Gorda in Cigar Aficionados May/June issue. It tied with the CAO Cameroon and the Fuente Fuente OpusX Perfecxion X (WTF!!). Score was 90 with a pretty glowing review.

Rocky Patel is probably torqued. I think he is pretty angry about this cigars appearance and packaging so closely resembling his Edge. It forced to eventually band his Edge cigars. I saw a rant of his (I think it was Tobacco World review) where he actually is "counterfeiting" his own Edge as an dig on the Omar Ortez cigars.

BillyBarue

[Kiss079]

I might have to go out and find one or two of these they sound pretty good.

[Warren]

JR has the boxes of 60 for around $2.30-$2.50 per stick.

I got a five pack of the torpedos from CBid and they aren't bad at all. I wouldn't give them a 90 but a very solid smoke.

I still prefer The Edge Corojos to these but if it's $5+ for an Edge or $2+ for these I'll pick these in a pinch.

[Bruzee]

Man I just had my first one of these tonight. A good friend of mine is retiring after 28 yrs on the force, and he received a box of 60 of these bad boys. Very good cigar. And this review is spot on IMHO. Great price, considering they are $157.00 for a chest of 60!!

[Namerifrats]

Ahhh, the Omar Ortez Originals! One of my fav regular smokes actually. I feel the same on buying a whole box of them. I have thought about posting about maybe doing something like a 3 or 4 way box split on these. Also thought about getting a crew together and maybe sending a box to the troops, get 16 people in on it, $10 ea. Be a nice bomb!

[Bruzee]

Originally Posted by Namerifrats

Ahhh, the Omar Ortez Originals! One of my fav regular smokes actually. I feel the same on buying a whole box of them. I have thought about posting about maybe doing something like a 3 or 4 way box split on these. Also thought about getting a crew together and maybe sending a box to the troops, get 16 people in on it, $10 ea. Be a nice bomb!

I'd be up for both. A split and a bomb to the troops. If you decide to do either, let me know!

[ggainey]

Bought six of these from Tampa Humidor a while back. I have smoked a couple of them and really thought they were very good.

[dccraft]

Thanks for the review. I have a couple of these and now I think that it might be time to light one up.

[Badmamajama]

Good review, I might have to go see about getting one of these.

What does the Fridge/Freezer/Fridge do?

[assaultnco]

I like the troop idea. I represent Troops here in Iraq with a cigar night every Tuesday night at the Camps Coffee house/ Lounge-hangout. Called the Mudhouse. I have 2 sponsors here with the Club Stogie bunch, but if you want to send a box of those fine Omars to the Troops, I will be delighted to pass them out on cigar night with thanks from you. I am assaultnco, and my email should be in my profile, if not drop me a line and I will correspond about the Mudhouse, and its cigar nights for the troops. We have a webpage, here is the link: http://www.taji-mudhouse.org/Mud_house/Cigar_Night.html

Take Care, assaultnco

[Isombitch]

I enjoyed your review! Thank you

One thing I've learned is that you can't tell much about a cigar when it's too moist. They taste, burn, look, and draw differently. Sometimes drastically. The B&M I worked P/T for a while stocked these and I grew to choose them over many others. I've seen them for $120 for a box of 60 and on cbid cheaper yet!

A fine Nic puro, IMO.

Steve

[MithShrike]

Those are some good sticks. I would get 'em for a little over $3 a stick at my B&M and I thought it was worth every penny.