Días de Gloria Brazil Review — AJ Fernandez Días de Gloria Brazil Toro

Today, we review the Días de Gloria Brazil in the Toro size from AJ Fernandez Cigars. In 2019, AJ Fernandez introduced a line called Días de Gloria. The cigar pays homage to the “glory days” of pre-Revolutionary Cuba. Tobacco-wise, it was a special project, as AJ Fernandez had been saving cigars from his farms in Estelí and decided to create a Nicaraguan puro consisting of tobaccos exclusively from his farms. At PCA 2024, Días de Gloria transitioned from a line to a brand, as a second blend, Días de Gloria Brazil, was introduced. This is a maduro counterpart to Días de Gloria. While Días de Gloria Brazil still has AJ Fernandez tobaccos for the binder and filler, the wrapper is a Brazilian Mata Fina.

Brazilian tobacco has long been a staple for AJ Fernandez, who has incorporated it into many of his blends over the years. For his own branded cigars, he chose it as the wrapper for Belles Artes Maduro, which was released in 2018.

At this time, let’s break down the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro in more detail and see what this cigar brings to the table.

AJ Fernandez Días de Gloria Brazil Toro – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

In addition to the Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper, the Días de Gloria Brazil features all Nicaraguan tobacco grown on AJ Fernandez’s farms. Production comes from Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Wrapper: Brazilian Mata Fina
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.

Vitolas Offered

Días de Gloria Brazil is offered in five box-pressed sizes. Each is presented in 20-count boxes.

Corona: 6 1/2 x 44
Robusto: 5 1/2 x 54
Toro 6 1/2 x 54
Figurado 6 1/2 x 52
Gordo 6 1/2 x 60

Appearance (*)

The Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper of the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro has the look of a dark roasted espresso bean. There was a slight amount of oil on the surface of this wrapper. Texture-wise, the surface of the wrapper had some toothiness to it. On close examination, you can see some mottling. While there were also some visible veins on the surface of the wrapper, the dark color of the wrapper minimized most of the visible wrapper seams. As mentioned, the Días de Gloria Brazil is a box-pressed line. The Toro size has a Cuban soft-box press to it (with a slight rounding effect on the edges).

AJ Fernandez Días de Gloria Brazil Toro (Cedar Sleeve removed)

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Prior to lighting up the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro, the cedar sleeve and ribbon were removed. From that point, it was time to place a straight cut into the cap and commence with the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw was fairly straightforward, delivering notes of black coffee and a slight hint of fruit sweetness. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. With the pre-light draw completed, it was time to toast up the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro and move into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Días de Gloria Brazil Toro opened with an assortment of flavors, including cocoa, coffee, earth, cream, cedar, and some white pepper. As the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro progressed through the early phases, the cocoa and coffee notes moved to the forefront. Sometimes I get a fusion of these two notes, which I term “mocha.” However, in this case, the notes were separate and distinct from each other. Meanwhile, the earth, cream, cedar, and pepper settled in the background. There was a combination of white pepper and cedar on the retro-hale.

Toward the end of the first third, the coffee notes took over as the sole primary note. The cocoa note faded into the background. As the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro headed through the second third, the earth notes increased in intensity and joined the coffee in the forefront. Toward the midpoint, the cream and fruit notes had dissipated, and there was an increase in cedar and pepper.

As the cigar headed into the final third, there were still plenty of coffee and earth notes in the forefront. The cedar had become the most prominent secondary note. Meanwhile, notes of pepper and cocoa rounded out the flavor profile. This is the way the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Días de Gloria Brazil Toro had a straight burn line and straight burn path. As the cigar experience progressed, more touch-ups were required to maintain a straight path and line. The resulting ash was a silver-gray color. This wasn’t an overly firm ash, but it wasn’t loose or flaky either. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Draw

The Días de Gloria Brazil Toro had what I would consider to be an open draw. Normally, I like a little more resistance on the draw than this cigar had to offer initially. At the same time, there were no adverse effects from this experience, except that the cigar required a more controlled pace of smoking.

Strength and Body

Overall, the Días de Gloria Brazil Toro delivered a medium-strength, medium-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. There was a slight increase in intensity of both attributes along the way. In terms of strength versus body, the strength maintained a slight edge throughout the smoking experience.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

Overall, the Días de Gloria Brazil has an excellent presentation. Both the banding and packaging make extensive use of green, but I found it worked nicely on the band and the box. The band substitutes most of the red found on the original Días de Gloria with green. The box design is a 5 (cigars) x 4 (rows) box. This is thinner than the original Días de Gloria box, which is elongated.

Packaging of the AJ Fernandez Días de Gloria Brazil

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of Mata Fina tobacco, but every so often, I have a cigar with it that does hit my palate. The Días de Gloria Brazil Toro was one such cigar. This cigar offered a significant amount of the earthiness typically associated with Mata Fina, but it also had a range of other flavors that kept my interest. While the burn and draw were not poor, there was definitely room for improvement, which affected the overall score. However, there were more positive aspects than negative ones with this cigar. I would recommend it to experienced cigar enthusiasts, but I wouldn’t discourage novices from trying it as well. Although it’s a bit pricey, the complexity was enough to make me want to try this cigar again. Additionally, I would be interested in sampling it in other sizes.

Summary

Key Flavors: Coffee, Earth, Cocoa, Cedar, Cream, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good