The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Avowed Hallowed Hands - Toro (6 x 52) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-03-09

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

Again with the beautiful milk chocolate brown leaf that has a nice sheen, heavy mottling, and color variation with a very oily feel to the texture. And I really have to reiterate how oily these wrappers feel; there’s a mild slickness to them that isn’t very common. There are a couple of slightly thicker veins running the length of the cigar, as the leaf seems to be on the thicker side, with a lot of visible thinner veins running across, giving it a slightly lumpy appearance. The seams are tight but do have visible edges from the leaf thickness. But it’s well-rolled, though the cap is a little sloppy. The black, gold, and blue band is absolutely gorgeous, and the blue marble background gives it a feeling of depth that you don’t see in most bands. And again, the unique marble patterning is very cool when you have multiples side-by-side.

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

The draw is good, just a hair loose, but still very much in the sweet spot. The burn line starts uneven and needs a quick, immediate correction that I’ll take the blame for, but one side seems like it might be lagging. The humidity is high today, so I’m probably going to be a little more lenient on how I judge this one. The ash is a light-to-medium gray with very dark striping that’s browning just slightly as it cools. Banding is wide, and parts of the ash start to peel back and feather, dropping an occasional flake. By the second third, the burn line has settled in nicely, evening out with a soft wave across it. With the veins and slight lumpiness, I don’t ever expect a razor-sharp and flat burn line, but this is pretty good. The ash holds into the start of the second third before falling, and I’m left with a nice, even burn line. I did need two relights in the final third, but overall, a good burn here owing to the consistent construction you see from Klaas Kelner’s factory.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

The Toro starts with a lot of baking spice, heavy cinnamon, pumpernickel breadiness, some molasses and black cherry sweetness, earth, dark chocolate, and espresso flavors. The flavors are immediate with complexity and nuance, but with less intensity than the Corona Gorda. I’m getting more coffee and earth in this blend, but less spice and sweetness. While this is very smooth, it’s lacking some of that buttery creaminess and richness to the finish. In its place, you’re getting more charred oak with the earthy base, and an ever-so-slight mesquite flavor as there’s a little bit of black pepper appearing at the end of the first third.

Getting into the second third, spice is picking up, but it’s still very earthy and on the darker side; I’m getting more charred oak than pumpernickel bread. There’s still a lot of honey-cum-molasses sweetness, and that’s the Latin usage for duality as in both flavors, not a third flavor, though there is a slight saltiness I get from time to time… 😂🤦🏻‍♂️ But this is a classy cigar, and you know me, I’m going to save the dirty talk for the dog rockets. Or your mother. 😉 But it’s nice to see the spice and some of the intensity pick up. It takes me back to Dave West from Avowed talking about chopping the first inch off a Toro to get right to the sweet spot, and this one would’ve been a great candidate for that. I’m definitely getting more dark chocolate and espresso in this blend, which is resulting in more natural bitterness. This is still pretty smooth, but I’m missing the thicker creaminess on the finish I got with the Corona Gorda.

The final third starts by carrying on with the second third’s increased spice levels. The black cherry sweetness has pulled back, so I’m getting more tingling from the increased pepper, which is more red and hitting the tongue and mouth instead of the back of my palate. It finishes with the charred oak and earth still driving, but it’s still another great expression of the blend in the Hallowed Hands lineup.

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

The Toro is very good, but it’s lacking some of the intensity, creaminess, and wow factor that the Corona Gorda brings and makes that vitola so amazing. I’d recommend that you try both to find which one fits more with your personal tastes. For me, it’s the Corona Gorda, but I wouldn’t kick the Toro out of bed. 😅 Next will be the Robusto Grande to see how that extra Pennsylvania Broadleaf changes the experience.

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.75

Would I Buy It Again?

Signs point to yes (recommended)

Review Final Score (0-10):

9.17

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.