The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Hermanos de Armas Descending Shadows - Toro (6 x 54) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-04-27

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

The Descending Shadows is actually the lightest wrapper of the three HDA blends, but it’s still on the darker side of medium brown. It has a nice, warm, almost rosado hue to it, along with a good sheen and areas of mottling. It has a very faint tooth that appears in the right light, catching the shadows, but not one that’s very tactile. The seams and roll are immaculate with tight and even lines, like an excellently tucked bunk. There are a couple of thicker veins, but it’s a great-looking cigar overall.

The bands are nice. In all the HDA cigars, I appreciate the simple color scheme—a satin finish with spot gloss on the lettering, giving them a slightly raised appearance. But once again, just like with the Cataclysm, the foot band is glued so the cigar’s name is covered up. This wouldn’t happen if the band were applied from the other direction. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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

The draw is a hair loose, but still good. The burn is a little wavy to start but balanced. The ash starts with some splitting at the foot and light petaling. By the end of the first inch, however, the burn line is razor-sharp and dead-flat with the ash holding nicely. The ash is a medium gray with a lot of dark accents, but it helps to highlight all the oil crystals embedded in it. The cracks are tight, as is the spacing between them.

The burn line gets a little wavy in the second third, but still holds even. The ash was holding strong and almost to the midway point when it went out and I had to dump the ash for a relight. Then it went out again just after the midpoint, a third time right at the start of the final third, and a fourth time in the final third. I practically had to keep my lighter on standby. The relights were the only thing keeping this cigar from top ratings for the burn.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

Immediate honey brown bread flavors, with a powdered dark baking cocoa, mild coffee, and nuttiness. Excellent start here for my palate. It’s super smooth with a medium creaminess, and I’m getting bits of salt and lemony citric acidity on the finish. As I get to the end of the first inch, coffee bitterness picks up a little bit and I’m getting hints of black licorice as well. Not much pepper at the moment, but a lot of baking spice, though light on the cinnamon. The first third is a fantastic start.

The second third begins with an increase in cinnamon spice and coffee. The blend is starting to get a little darker and a little spicier, but it’s more of a baking spice flavor than a pepper burn. Bits of charred cedar, molasses, that strong dark honey brown bread, mild earthiness and leather, strong baking spice, coffee, and dark chocolate baking powder. It’s all very dark, slightly dry, but good flavors. The honey sweetness cuts through it, and the slightly salty and citrus finish on the tongue breaks it up too. This is a super smooth blend, but only medium creaminess. Other than slight increases in intensity, there are no shifts or major transitions, but there is good balance and complexity in this blend.

The final third sees extra sweetness hitting, almost syrupy and raisin-like at this point, but still with bits of honey, molasses, and that citrus aftertaste. Overall flavor intensity is a bit stronger after the second relight, but the profile isn’t changing. If you like dark, bready profiles with earth, coffee, and hints of black licorice, this will land perfectly.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Excellent (5)

A really fantastic blend that was only pulled down by the need to keep relighting the cigar. But overall construction, burn quality, flavor profile, and everything else were on point. When I think of how military experience can positively influence anything, focus on detail and precise execution both come to mind, and the Descending Shadows hits the mark on both. It’s like a cruise missile delivering a precision hit to your palate. 🚀💥 A fantastic cigar and one I highly recommend!

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.75

Is it Burnable?

Without a doubt (box worthy)

Review Final Score (0-10):

9.67

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.