Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro

The Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend is the fourth line of cigars to be made available by Kuuts, LLC. Kuuts, LLC was setup as a distribution arm to Compania Hondurena de Tabacos (CHT). CHT has their own factory located in Danli, Honduras and is capable of producing 6 million cigars per year. Prior to the launch of Kuuts, the cigars of CHT had established themselves mostly in Europe.  While Kuuts launched in the U.S. in 2013 with three lines, the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend marks the first new line introduced since then. It is also the first cigar to carry the Kuuts name. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend in the Toro format. This is a cigar that I found to deliver a very good smoking experience – and one that is getting better over time.

When Kuuts launched in 2013, they brought three lines into the U.S. market:  Placeres Reserva (the box-pressed Nicaraguan Habano wrapper line); Miro (Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper offering); and Tabacalera Zapata (Connecticut Shade wrapper line). While it is not a Nicaraguan puro, the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend is the most Nicaraguan-centric blend to date.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

As mentioned, the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend is not a Nicaraguan puro.  It features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over Nicaraguan tobaccos. This is the second Kuuts line to use a Habano wrapper, but the first to use an Ecuadorian Habano (The Placeres Reserva uses a Nicaraguan Habano).

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend is available in twenty count boxes.

Momentos: 4 x 48
Pequeno: 4 1/2 x 58
Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 x 52
Gordo Especial: 7 x 60

Cabinet style boxes of Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro is on the lighter side. I would still say its darker than most Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrappers.  There is a slight coating of oil on the wrapper. While there are some visible veins and some visible thin wrapper seams, I considered the wrapper to be on the smooth side. I found the wrapper to be on the thinner side, thus making the wrapper a little more fragile than average.

The band to the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend is black.  The band has a copper colored Kuuts logo that also features the text “KUUTS”. To the left of the logo is the text “Nicaraguan” in white cursive text. To the right of the logo is the text “Blend” in white cursive text.  On the far right is a smaller version of the Kuuts logo surrounded by a rectangular border. This serves as a connector to the far right and far left of the band when it is on the cigar.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Before lighting up the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw.  The cold draw provided some floral notes along with cherry, wood, and mild pepper flavors. Overall I considered the pre-light draw to the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend to be very good. At this point I was ready to light up the cigar and move on to the smoking phase.

Flavor Profile

The Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend started out with notes of sweet raisin, caramel, and white pepper. I also picked up some earth notes in the background. As the cigar progressed through the early part of the first third, the raisin notes became primary and were joined by some toast notes. Meanwhile, the caramel, earth, and pepper notes were secondary. As for the retro-hale, it consisted of black pepper spice and a slight sweet component.

Throughout the first half, I found the raisin notes to remain primary with the toast and pepper notes shifting between the forefront and background. The caramel and earth notes played a secondary role. The raisin notes gave this cigar a lot of sweetness up front

In the second half, the primary notes became a mix of toast and earth notes. There was a slight decrease in sweetness. The raisin notes diminished to a close secondary note. I also found the caramel notes began to dissipate.

The last third saw the spice increase, but the pepper spice had morphed into more of a baker’s spice with a cinnamon component. These spices notes became more prominent toward the end. Meanwhile, I still picked up some earth, toast, and raisin notes. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. While there was an increase in spice, there wasn’t much in the way of spice at the end. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the burn of the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro to perform quite well. The burn remained on a straight path.  The burn line itself was straight and only required some occasional touch-ups. The resulting ash was a salt and pepper color. The ash wasn’t overly firm, but it wasn’t one that was loose either. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro

The draw to the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro performed excellent. It had a touch of resistance – which is something I like and made the cigar an enjoyable smoke.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I did not find the Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend Toro to be an overpowering smoke. Overall I found this cigar to be a medium strength cigar from start to finish. As for the flavors, I found they had some nice depth and robustness. I assessed this cigar as being on the upper end of medium to full-bodied. In terms of strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body.

Final Thoughts

I’ve smoked several of these cigars over the past few months. During this time, I’ve really seen this blend come along over time, and its a much better cigar than when I first got this back in November of 2014. I would say if you like a lot of natural (non-infused) sweetness in a cigar, this is definitely going to be the cigar for you. A small negative was the thinner wrapper, which did require this cigar to be handled a little more carefully. This is a cigar I’d recommend to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. In particular, this is a nice cigar for a novice to smoke something with a little more body. As for myself, this was an enjoyable smoke, and it’s one certainly worthy of a box split.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.5 – Box Split
Score: 90

References

News: Kuuts Nicaraguan Blend
Price: ~$6.10
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
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