Brand: ORTSAC
Vitola: Toro
Length: 6.50
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Origin: Dominican Republic
MSRP: Aprox. $5.99 per single
Brand:
The ORTSAC cigar is one that is relatively new to the market. It features a storyline that follows an actual military operation from the Cuban missile crisis days. To add to the storyline, cigars are available packaged in cedar sleeves of 72, encased in an authentic 50 caliber ammunition box.
The lineup has expanded from its single size offering of a Toro (54 x 6.50) and now includes a Torpedo and Robusto. These sticks feature a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, Dominican binder, and filler blend from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.
Pre-Light:
Before lighting up my Ortsac 1962, I gave it a once over to check for any obvious imperfections within the cigar. The only issue that I had was a small tear near the foot due to a little excess glue from the foot band. Aside from that, the color was consistent from head to foot. The wrapper had a slight oily sheen and medium sized veins that added a slight lumpiness to the texture of the cigar. When pinched, I found the cigar to be firmly packed with tobacco. I was able to find a single soft section at the foot. After removing the band, the foot had a mushy and soft feel to it.
After the visual inspection was complete, I reached for my guillotine cutter and opened up the head of my cigar. The resistance on the cold draw was decent with very little flavor. The aroma on both the exposed foot and wrapper reminded me of a mild barnyard like aroma.
First Third:
After a short lighting session, my Ortsac 1962 was burning evenly and producing a satisfactory amount of smoke. For a cigar that is advertised as “full-strength”, the body is surprisingly mild and remains that way throughout the entire first third. The finish is easy on the palate and feels neutral in that it does not leave a creamy or dry sensation on the palate after the smoke is expelled.
The flavors of the first third came across as very subdued. The core flavor seemed to be a mixture of natural tobacco and wood. The intensity of this flavor mixture was medium at best and remained on the palate for several seconds before fading. Once faded, I tasted a slight leather flavor that seemed to linger for the same amount of time before fading.
The burn line was thin and slightly wavy while producing a tightly formed, light colored ash. The burn rate seemed a little slower than average while producing a light volume of resting smoke. The draw was satisfactory but produced less smoke density than I prefer, which also made passing the smoke through the sinuses a little tougher.
Second Third:
After an hour of smoking, I reached the second third of my Ortsac 1962. The body changed slightly throughout this segment of the cigar but remained much milder than I would have anticipated from reading the cigar documentation. At this point it was along the lines of mild to medium. The finish was becoming slightly creamy but the deviation from the first third was minor.
The flavors picked up a little steam and became more dense and enjoyable along the second third. The tastes did not vary and remained that of natural tobacco and wood with a leathery secondary flavor. If the flavor level of the first third was mild, the second third would probably be best described as medium.
As the cigar grew shorter, the smoke volume with each puff seemed to increase. With this added volume, I found that the smoke was much easier to pass through my sinuses. The ash remained light in color while being firmly compacted and strong.
Final Third:
After about two and a half hours, it was about time to start thinking about putting down my Ortsac for good. At this point in the cigar, the body progressed a little more and plateaued in the medium range. The finish became slightly more creamy as well.
The flavors remained very consistent and did not vary in terms of specific tastes. I was still getting a core of natural tobacco and wood with a secondary flavor of leather. The only new flavor was an occasional salty sensation that came and went every so often. The richness and strength of these flavors picked up considerably in the final third.
With about an inch and a half remaining, the flavors began turning harsh. I think that this may be a result in the cigar getting slightly warm due to its short length. Aside from the harsh flavors, the cigar was smoking well in terms of burning characteristics.
Final Thoughts:
When it came time to set this cigar down to rest, I was ready. The slow burn rate paired with the easy going flavor profile and mild body made for cigar that was not up my alley. The final third was enjoyable due to its increased richness and depth of flavor, but it was too little too late.
If you are one of those smokers that loves a cigar that is consistent from front to back, with a medium body and medium flavor level, this cigar is the one for you.
Great video!!! Keep up the great work!!
Music is a nice touch between the breaks. I know the work that goes into these reviews and they are much appreciated. I too tend to get bored with a particularly slow burning cigar, of course, I don’t want a really enjoyable one to end. I went and bought some CAO minatures of the Gold, Criollo, Brazilia and Italia. They are 4 X 38 and burn for about 1/2 hour. The flavor profile is pretty close to the full sized vitolas.
Just the marketing of these cigars are reason enough for me never to buy one of these. Moronic. Give me a good cigar with a simple band from a plain box. This makes Gurkha seem tasteful,subtle and reserved. Who buys this shit? I am a little surprised they don’t give you a fucking gun with these things.
Nice review! I actually like the longer smokes most of the time, but then again, I have no life so I have PLENTY of time to smoke them…lol
Mike
Walt, I didn’t watch the video, so I don’t know if you mentioned it, but Ortsac is Castro spelled backwards. They apparently want to target Cuba and Cuban cigars with some “Team America…F**k Yeah” marketing.
Who buys into this? Well, you’d be surprised.
I’d guess they’re not marketing to hardcore BOTL’s so much as the guy who partakes once in a while. But despite being a novelty, it feels disingenuous – the packaging screams “full-bodied,” although it’s clearly not. Well, maybe to the Macanoodle smoker, it is.
These guys did an event at Famous a few weeks ago. Nice guys. I found the cigar be mild and rather uninteresting, but to be fair, I’d been smoking some *real* heavy duty stuff prior. I could see it as a moderately pleasant morning cigar, if not for the price tag.
oh dear,
did you really spend 2,5 hours with this piece of crap ?
you deserve a medal right there
Ortsac – what a bunch of cynical bastards
Don’t like this marketing myself. I just like a simple cab or box of cigars that are bold and tastey. I don’t need this extra crap. Call me a traditionalist.
Anyways, great review as always! Cheers!
T
When I see a simple, plain box with a non fancy band, I am attracted to it. The flash and gimmick are a turn off. I’d probably give this cigar a try just for the sake of trying it though.
As for the music during the slide show segments and credits… I think it’s a good addition and keeps everything flowing. But I know exactly what you mean about how time consuming it can be during editing. In the end, I don’t really care if there is music or not in a review. I just like to add it to ours.
Walt, I couldn’t even watch the review I was so annoyed with the ads that kept popping up. Used to be limited to just the bottom of the video but now it’s plastered all over your face, and they keep coming back…sorry.
Jeff,
I asked a couple people on Twitter if they experienced the same problem and unfortunately, they have. I’m hoping that the ad is something that will be removed as it clearly causes a problem by covering up the content.
If the ad isn’t removed from the system, or changed, we will have to consider turning off our overlay ads. Thanks for mentioning the problem as it wasn’t present when I watched the video a couple of days ago.
-Walt
I am a fan of interesting marketing ideas, but this seems a bit over-the-top IMO. Especially for a cigar that apparently doesn’t meet the hype…
Hey, fellow cigar smoker here… Maybe its just me, but I can not for the life of me see how such a piece of crap as this Orsac could have burned for 2 and a half hours +? Were you even smoking it or taking a pull every 10 minutes? Was it perhaps to humid (the mushy foot) I just dont get it. I have smoke Camacho Triple Maduros and I may have one burning for about 145 to two hours TOPS IF IM REALLY CONSERVATIVE, which Im usually not – I mean when I want to smoke, I smoke. Anyway, Im gonna buy one just to see what kind of burn time this thing has but for no other reason trust me. Thanks for your good work and Ill be back !
Just finished the Ortsac 1962, bought 5 because I liked the size, appearance (wrapper & color) and assumed the Med/Full would be accurate …also did I mention that my smoke shop had them in the 6.5/54 on close out at 2 for $5.00. Well my first thought after about the first 5 minutes was that I’m glad I only paid $2.50 a piece for these. Good looking and nicely constructed cigars with about as much flavor as a corn stalk. To be fair, I like full bodied cigars best, so this was a deviation from the norm but medium bodied cigars can have great flavor, this just wasn’t one of them. I guess I pull on my cigars a lot more than most because it’s rare that I get much more than an hour out of one and this one was no different. On a scale of 1-10, I’d give this an overall 5 and that is mainly because it was well constructed and burned nicely. The flavor wasn’t bad, it was just weak and not worthy of my smoking time. I would say its a decent yard work cigar at best but I can think of many more that can ultimately be picked up for the same price by the box, at CI, Cigar.com or other online retailers that are flavorful and every bit as well built. I think I’ll treat my taste buds to a My Father or a Camacho in the morning to set things right again. As for dog tags and ammunition boxes… I’d rather have a good cigar in a box or a bundle. You want to give me a gift, throw in a photo of a beautiful woman smoking one of those cigars and I’ll put it up in my cigar room.