The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Plasencia Triunfal - Toro (6.25 x 54) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-05-26

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

The Honduran wrapper used on the Triunfal is absolutely lovely, with a warm, light brown color that goes into slightly golden hues. It’s smooth and soft, with super-thin veins, a little bit of mottling, and a nice sheen to it. The seams are tight, it has nice density and firmness—it’s about as good a roll as you can ask for.

The green and gold triple bands are nicely done as well and accentuate the natural color of the wrapper. A really beautiful touch on the foot band is that the embossed pattern is made of tobacco leaf veins. It is the first use of the new Plasencia logo, which is seemingly a little polarizing, mostly because nobody had an issue with the old one and this isn’t seen as a marked improvement. I get it; it’s a stylized hexagon tobacco leaf that leans into their history of farming and their unique hexágono vitola, but it’s kind of boring, too.

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

The draw is a hair loose, but good, and the burn starts beautifully. The ash is a light gray with tight striations and cracking. There’s the slightest bit of flaking as the ash turns ever so slightly outward where it cracks, but it’s not messy. The burn line is razor-sharp and dead-even through the first third. Then the ash just collapses at the end of the first third and explodes on the ground. This felt like a very apropos soccer flop to pull a yellow card. 😂 But the burn line stays crisp and dead-nuts even through the rest of the smoke.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

The Triunfal kicks off with an immediate blast of flavor, like when Turkey’s Hakan Şükür scored against South Korea in 11 seconds during the 2002 World Cup. Strong cedar, almonds, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, red pepper, caramel sweetness, milder earth, and a hint of leather—all wrapped in a rich creaminess—go storming onto the pitch. We’re off to a banging start. This is a medium-strength cigar, but the boldness of flavor is much more intense. There’s a really nice sweet and buttery aspect to the creamy finish, and the nuttiness is like toasted almonds. While I’m picking up more caramel from the sweetness, I can see how some would categorize it as toffee if the roasted and buttery flavors swirled into the sweetness for them. Other than the red pepper dialing back a hair, it’s a pretty solid and consistent first third.

The second third starts with no transitions, but the blend is still laughably enjoyable. But it feels like the point where Americans get bored during soccer. That back-and-forth between the teams with no scoring, no offensive strikes, just a lot of possession changes at midfield where my European colleagues will be on the edge of their seats, and you find yourself feeding off their enthusiasm. The caramel and toasted almond aspect of this is fantastic, and I’m starting to get some pretzel-like notes of sourdough bread and saltiness. My mouth is tingling from the red pepper, and I’m finding there’s no shortage of salivation. I’m curious which tobacco is triggering that, but for a wood- and nut-heavy blend, it won’t trigger dry mouth. Usually, when you talk about nuts in soccer, it’s referring to the guys protecting their junk during a free kick. 😂

In the final third, I start to get a little bit more coffee and hints of dark chocolate. The combination of spices—cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper—are still going strong, and it’s still very sweet with the toffee on top. Creaminess hasn’t faded at all; it’s so lush… If you’ve smoked Honduran cigars and enjoy their signature notes, the toasted almond and spicy cedar base will surely please you. This is just a fucking delightful smoke.

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

Ok, so this was a performance like Lionel Messi in 2022 but for Honduran tobacco — a masterclass and amazing all around. But fuuuuck, $60?!?! It’s so hard to say a $60 cigar is box-worthy because it’s a $600 box. The price and limited nature absolutely put this out of the hands of many smokers, and that’s disappointing. But if you love soccer, Plasencia, and Honduran tobacco, this is a cigar you must try. It slaps. It slaps so hard your ass is going to be bruised. Triunfal is Spanish for “Triumphant,” and Plasencia lives up to the name with this cigar. Ooof, I’m ready for another. 🔥

Review Base Rating (0-5):

5.00

Is it Burnable?

Without a doubt (box worthy)

Review Final Score (0-10):

10.00

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.