Wrapper : San Andres Morron
Binder : Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler : Nicaraguan, San Andres and Honduran
Source : bought at local shop
Welcome back to my little corner of the galaxy and this weeks review of the A. Turrent Triple Play in the Gran Toro size. Today’s review is a little special because I believe it is only one of three cigars made with maduro used for wrapper, binder, and filler. Of course the other 2 are the Camacho Triple Maduro and the CAO MX3.
This cigar is available in 5 sizes, Gran Toro (6 x 60), Short Belicoso (4 x 60), Belicoso (6 1/8 x 54), Toro (6 x 54) and a Robusto (4 1/2 x 50).
Pricing for me locally was $5.85 for the Gran Toro and online pricing is around $144 for a box of 21.
Pre-Light
There is not a lot to say for the pre light of this A. Turrent Triple Play because there was hardly any scent on the wrapper or foot other than a slight, very slight, chocolate and tobacco note.
On the pre-light draw there was a slight chocolate and wood taste.
Clipped the cap, torched it up, away we go.
First Half
Starting out the A. Turrent Triple Play and it seems to be mild while giving me a chocolaty taste with a hint of cardboard right at the beginning.
At the end of the first half I was getting a slight chocolate along with the cardboard taste. There was a bit of spice that lasted around a quarter inch of the cigar then fell way into the background. There were not many flavors that I would call, clean, but most have been muddied with something else that took away from the nice chocolate, sweetness, or even spice. The sweetness i was tasting may have been associated with a coffee but with it not being a clean taste, I really had a hard time discerning it from others.
Body at this point would be medium but is not strong at all either in flavors or body.
Second Half
Rounding out this A. Turrent Triple Play with this final half starting off a medium body and ending up in the full range but not overpowering.
I was disappointed in how much of the flavor dropped off and the bitterness that came into play. I could taste a slight chocolate taste but the bitter factor just overshadowed that and made it unenjoyable.
The cardboard taste from the beginning also changed into a standard wood flavor towards the end but did nothing to excite me about this cigar.
Wrap-Up
Camacho Triple Maduro is a ton better. I never had the MX3 so I can not say on that cigar.
That about sums it up for me. I will not be buying more of these and if someone would gift me one, I think I would leave it in the humidor for a nice long time to see if it gets any better with age on it.
I hope others have smoked these and can comment about their experience.
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man ive had my share of the camacho triple maduro and these and i cant stand triple maduro cigars ive smoked my last one that i will ever smoke, i wont even think about picking another one up ever again i dont care if padron makes one…they are so bad in flavor it taste just like dry bitter chalk that leaves your palate so so dry i cant even talk after i take a puff of the cigar…every triple maduro ive had i could never finish it they are by fat the worst cigars i have ever smoked…good review anyway
I was looking forward to trying this cigar for a while before I was able to get my hands on a few. I was greatly disappointed. You stated – “I was disappointed in how much of the flavor dropped off and the bitterness that came into play.” Exactly my experience. Thanks for the review.
Mike this sounds like a cigar I will pass on. Great review keep rockin.
Truly terrible cigars…
I’ ve only had on Turrent cigar and I did not find it to be a very good cigar. I’m not too excited for Mexican cigars and I have had mixed experiences with cigars that have the San Andres Morron wrapper.
As always great review Mike, unfortunately every cigar from A. Turrent that I’ve tried has been “horrible tasting”. The taste reminds me of mud for some reason. Looking forward to your next review. Keep on smoking.
never been a fan of the turrent line, nice review.
i mostley smoke cubans and the non cubans i smoke are stuff like…AURORA PURO VINTAGE…ASHTON VSG…ALEC BRADLEY FAMILY BLEND…CABIGAUNS…CUBAO…CORNADO BY LA FLOR….DAVIDOFFS….DON PEPIN GARICA MY FATHER…FUENTE GOD OF FIRE….GREYCLIFF GRAN CRU…LA FLOR DOMINICANA SALOMONES…LITTO GOMEZ DIEZ…NESTOR MIRANDAS….OLIVA V AND V MADURO…..ALL PADRONS….ALL TATUAJES….AND WINSTON CHURCHILL OTHE R THEN THAT I SMOKE CUBANS
Good review Mike. By the looks of things i think I’m gonna have to give this a pass. I have a couple Camacho Triple Maduros in the humidor but haven’t smoked em yet. Hippie!
I did like this cigar. It’s unfair to compare this to the Triple Maduro, because they are two very different blends – even though both utilize the maduro process for its wrapper, binder, and filler.
The Triple Maduro is a Honduran puro – which I find amazing considering the power of that cigar.
The A.Turrent Triple Play is a San Andres Wrapper, CT Broadleaf Binder, and Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Mexican filler. I still thought they did a good job and this was my #20 cigar for 2010. I do agree, this got better with age.
I just had a Triple Play Belicoso. I ordered on from the online deal I buy from because of a h rating in CA. My general experience was similar.
The draw, smoke volume and general combustion was fine. Also like the visual appeal of the cigar. The cigar was very mild and my understanding is that properly cured Maduro tobacco will often produce a mild strength profile. Overall, I think I prefer medium to full-bodied cigars and fairly powerful sticks paired with a (strong) libation after a meal. These preferences aren’t unlike most cigar geeks, but just wanted to put that out there for perspective.
Anyway, considering my strength preferences, this smoke (which often is incorrectly categorized as medium-full) had a bit of a handicap right from the start. I didn’t pick up much bitterness Mike detected which is good, but normally I can identify some flavors no matter how mild a cigar is and I just got nothing from the Triple Play. In the final third there was a faint peanut note that was a little surprising and pleasant.
Overall, while visual appeal and construction were good, and there were no “problems”, the stick was pretty unimpressive and I won’t be purchasing more. Like Mike, if I was given one, I’d probably just stash it away for a long time and see if anything developed through aging.
I had one on the 4th and I didn’t get much flavor at all from it. I had it in the humidor for over a year and have been looking forward to it. I was not disappointed but I did want more from from this suposedly flavorful smoke. It burned well and the ash help fine but I was expecting more kick from it. I am not giving up on Torrent yet.
Really appreciate the review–almost purchased a 5-pack through CI–glad I didn’t. I’m a novice at best; but the MX3 was uninteresting–similar to the GreyCliff Expresso, tasty enough but really not much there.
Ms. Cigar Smoker brought one home today. (Gran Toro). This is my first stop on finding out information on this smoke. I am about an inch into it and so far it is unremarkable.
I was hoping for more from it but just never got it – hope you have better luck!
I bought a box of these in a moment of weakness from JR hype. Poor draw, a little flavor at stokeup, not much after. Made me miss the old easy-drawing Camachos. A waste of money.
Mike, great review, I’ve had a few of these cigars and I’ve tasted the same type of flavors you had. I was skeptical when I picked up one of these since I’m not a fan of Mexican tobacco or A. Turrent in general I found them to be too plain and sometimes bitter, but that being said I was plesantly suprised by this cigar especially the 6×60 size in my opinion I found it to be a good cigar not outstanding but I enjoyed it.