The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Warped Isla del Cocodrilo - Toro (6 x 52) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-05-12

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

A warm, light chocolate brown, very nicely shaped, with good firmness. It’s like the Rock’s ass. Not that it’s what you might want to smoke, but you do you if you do. 😅 But in all seriousness, this is a nicely rolled cigar, if a little unassuming-looking. Only a couple of light and thin veins, the seams are tight, and it has a soft texture. There’s only a light oily sheen and a little mottling to it.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Great (4)

The draw is ideal and the burn starts perfectly. Can’t ask for a better start. The burn stays nice and even. The ash is a light gray pushing white. The ash holds on until just before the halfway point—a very nice stack. This is a slower-moving smoke; give it more time than your normal Toro.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Great (4)

The first draws bring oaken woodiness, mild earth and leather, baking spice, and cream. Not creaminess in the quality, but a cream flavor. Breadiness appears and goes graham cracker with the baking spice. There’s a little bit of sweetness, but not much, and it’s hard to identify if it’s fruity or not. By the end of the first third, I’m getting a mix of both pepper and baking spice, giving it a mesquite quality.

You might have noticed this cigar has two binders; what is that doing to the taste? I dunno, but it’s certainly not ruining the experience by any means. Actually, that’s a lie—I recognize the Arapiraca, but it’s not adding as strong a level of aromatic floral notes as it would if it were the only binder or the wrapper. There, science!

Getting into the second third, mesquite and graham cracker lead. It’s a pretty dry set of flavors, just mildly creamy. It vacillates between smooth and slight harshness, the pepper leaving a mild burn at the back of my throat. I’m not getting much change, but it’s a pretty nice blend when the sweetness picks up; otherwise, it’s a hair dry. Sometimes the graham cracker goes roasted peanut, but not for very long. Not much changes in the final third until the end, where I get a really big hit of sweetness that was missing early on. But overall, it’s a pleasing blend with nice complexity.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Great (4)

Purely from a personal preference standpoint, I’m torn on whether I would buy this one again. Which is funny to say because it’s a good blend, and I’m giving it a good rating, but it’s just a bit dry in flavor and I didn’t really love it until the very end. But I’m sure this one will land well with other people’s palates.

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.50

Would I Buy It Again?

Reply hazy, try again (just ok, the juice isn't worth the squeeze)

Review Final Score (0-10):

8.00

Postscript

2026-Mar-29:  This is another cigar that didn’t blow me away the first time I smoked it, but it’s gotten better with age.   But the biggest issue I have with the Isla del Cocodrilo is that the LACC Gris Gris also exists.  What’s interesting is even though they’re different blends and the only real common denominator is they’re both made at the same factory, they do have a number of similarities in their final taste profile.  But the Gris Gris just lands better.  It’s more pretzel like and creamier on the finish with just a better mix of flavors.  Add that it’s also several dollars less expensive and you have a clear winner between the two.  If you’ve smoked the Isla del Cocodrilo and liked it, I can’t help but recommend you try the Gris Gris if you haven’t had that one yet.

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.