Trinidad Espiritu Cigar Review

Trinidad Espiritu Toro (6×54)

W: Nicaragua

B: Nicaragua

F: Nicaragua

Origin: Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua, Esteli

Boasting the most vibrant and colorful boxes and bands the Trinidad brand has ever known, the Espiritu was blended by the dynamic duo of A.J. Fernandez and Rafael Nodal to breathe new life into this classic Cuban frontmark.

Blended using an unspecified blend of 100% Nicaraguan tobaccos, the Espiritu is a celebration of vintage Latin Caribbean culture, complete with a Spotify playlist of suggested music to accompany the smoke as curated by the team @ Trinidad (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Mt0Dyxgq3p2Z3YuWxj8VA). Today I just had to see what a cigar that comes with its own soundtrack tastes like.

Pre-light draws exuded a nutty sweetness with dark, fruity overtones along the lines of Honey Nut Cheerios drizzled in a black cherry glaze. I wasn’t complaining.

After lighting, the Espiritu opened with a base flavor of cedar, loud notes of nutmeg and spicy black pepper, and some sweet caramel on the finish. The richness of the cedar seemed to intensify with each puff, and the cigar’s neat grey ash and picture-perfect burn line gave it a rather dignified appearance.

The second third of the smoke brought with it a new degree of smoothness, as well as new tones of bread, unsweetened cocoa, and a bit of maltiness. Just beyond this wall of well-rounded flavor, traces of the zesty spice were still there to comfort me. Eventually these individually delicious components morphed into what read like a single, multifaceted taste – one I would have happily continued enjoying for hours if possible.

A wave of cream ushered in the final third as some vegetal tones crept into the profile. The sweetness was now noticeably absent, and the spice returned to its previous prominence. Smoke production was greater here than in the previous two thirds, with massive, dense plumes materializing from each puff. This made it especially easy to taste the funk-free conclusive portion of this cigar, which I reluctantly put down with just over an inch remaining.

Truth be told, I’m not into Latin music and I never opened that playlist (I’m more of a “Yanni” guy, in case you couldn’t tell), so it’s possible that I didn’t really get the full Espiritu experience. But, that didn’t stop my taste buds from tapping along to the fresh flavor beats that this cigar was pumping out from the jump. While not extremely complex, this particular Trinidad had an excellent balance of spicy, sweet, and hearty flavor notes that continued to progress throughout the course of the smoke. The “sweet spot” for me was at just about the middle of the cigar where the flavors reached a remarkable level of synergy; one that I’ve only witnessed a handful of times over hundreds of cigars. Even with its manageable medium-full strength, the Espiritu is unmistakably bold. If you’ve been on the A.J. and/or Rafael train thus far, you’ll definitely want to make a stop at the Trinidad Espiritu station asap – it has the best parts of these two masters’ signature blend styles all over it.


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