Just before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s August 8th deadline that required pre-market approval for new cigars products, the brands of Black Label Trading Company (BLTC) and Black Works Studio (BLK WKS) soft-launched a limited release of several brands. One of the new brands under Black Works Studio is a fuller San Andres maduro offering which was called Sindustry. This past February, the first release of Sindustry made its way to retailers. Like many of the releases of Black Works Studio and Black Label Trading company, Sindustry was a small-batch limited-production release. Today we take a closer look at the Black Works Studio Sindustry in the Toro size. Black Works Studio has been releasing some creative and innovative cigars that deliver high on performance. The Sindustry Toro is no exception.

Black Label Trading Company and Black Works Studio are two brands coming from James Brown’s Fabrica Oveja Negra. Black Label Trading Company was Brown’s first brand that launched in 2013. Late in 2015, Brown announced his second brand, Black Works Studio. At the time this new brand was announced, Brown explained that he considered cigar making an art form and the launch of Black Works Studio gave him another expression of what he could do as a cigar maker and brand owner. Like Black Label Trading Company, Black Works Studio follows a small batch philosophy in terms of production. While the Black Label Trading Company brand followed more of a “skull and bones theme” in terms of its packaging, the Black Works Studio brand has a much more contemporary and modern art look to it.

The brands of Black Label Trading Company and Black Works Studio are distributed in the U.S. by Scott Zucca’s Boutiques Unified.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Black Works Studio Sindustry and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

In addition to the San Andres Maduro wrapper, Sindustry features Nicaraguan tobaccos in the binder and filler.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Fabrica Oveja Negra)

Vitolas Available

Sindustry was being released in three sizes. The Robusto and Toro sizes were packaged in 20-count boxes while the lancero was packaged  in 16-count boxes. One can make the case the Toro size is more along the lines of a Short Churchill.

Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 1/4 x 48
Lancero: 7 x 38

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper of the Black Works Studio Sindustry Toro has a classic chocolate brown color. There is a light coating of oil on the wrapper. This wrapper had more of a rugged San Andres Maduro wrapper to it. While the darker color of the wrapper did a good job at hiding the wrapper seams, there were some thin visible wrapper seams. The cigar has a covered footer and is finished with a rabito-style cap.

The band to the Black Works Sindustry is black with gold pin-striping toward the top and bottom. The text “SINDUSTRY” appears in a weathered-style white-colored font. Just below that text is “black works studio”. To the left of the text is a white cathedral image with a gold “flower of life” pattern above it.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Before lighting up the Black Works Studio Sindustry Toro, I opted to place a straight cut to remove the rabito-style cap. Once the cap was clipped, I commenced with the pre-light draw. The cold draw produced a mix of chocolate, cedar, and floral notes. Overall I considered this cigar to have a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up the Sindustry Toro and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Sindustry Toro began with notes of chocolate, earth, red pepper, and a slight salty component. As the cigar progressed throughout the first third, the chocolate note took on more of a chocolate malt quality and became the primary note. The earth notes floated between the forefront and background. The red pepper settled into the background where it was joined by some notes of cedar. The red pepper was quite sharp on the retro-hale. There was also a maduro sweetness (a cross between natural tobacco and dried fruit) that I detected on the after-draw. The salty component, it dissipated early on.

During the early part of the second third, there weren’t many major changes. The chocolate malt remained a primary note. The earth continued to float between the forefront and background. There was a slight increase of cedar and pepper in the background and the maduro sweetness on the after-draw diminished.

Toward the latter part of the second third, the earthy notes took hold as the primary note. The chocolate malt became a close secondary note. There was another slight increase in pepper and cedar. I also found the maduro sweetness increased again – and this time wasn’t just limited to the after-draw. This is the way the Sindustry Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

While there was a slight curvature to the burn line of the Sindustry Toro, I found this cigar maintained a straight burn path. This was not a cigar that required an excessive amount of touch-ups. The resulting ash was a light gray with some darker speckling mixed in. This was a firm ash that came off the cigar in clean chunks. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

The draw to the Sindustry Toro was open, but not loose. This was also a cigar that produced ample amounts of smoke during the smoking experience.

Strength and Body

The Sindustry Toro is one of the bolder cigars made by Black Works Studio and Black Label Trading Company.  This is a cigar that was medium to full in strength and full in body. I didn’t find much variance along the way ofi the intensity of either attribute.

When it came to strength versus body, I found the body had a significant edge throughout the smoking experience.

Final Thoughts

The Black Works Studio and Black Label Trading Company brands are known for their maduro offerings.  In addition to these being some excellent maduros, Brown has also done a very good job at keeping these maduros unique from one another. It’s a cigar that excels in perhaps the most important category – flavor. As mentioned earlier, the Sindustry Toro is going to a deliver a fuller offering in the portfolio. As a result, this is a cigar I would recommend to a more experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, it’s a cigar I would smoke again – and one that is worthy of box purchase consideration.

Summary

Key Flavors: Chocolate Malt, Earth, Cedar, Red Pepper, Maduro Sweetness
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium to High
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Assessment: 4.0-Box Worthy
Score: 92

References

News: Black Works Studio Sindustry Slated for February Release
Price: $10.00
Source: Black Works Studio
References: Black Works Studio

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop