Last month, Chogüí’s lone regular production line added its third vitola.

The line is named after the box number of Chogüí’s original Primera Edición—number 277—that was lost while being transported from the factory Tamboril to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The new vitola is the Toro, a 6 x 50 toro that joins two other vitolas in the line: the 5 x 50 Rogusto the 6 1/2 x 46 Longsdale.

Blend-wise, the Chogüí Dos77 Toro features the same Havana-seed Dominican wrapper as the other two sizes, as well as a criollo 98 binder and a filler blend that contains both corojo and Habano 2020 tobacco. However, the Toro also uses a higher priming wrapper, meaning it is theoretically darker than the other two vitolas. The cigars are rolled in a small factory—the company has dubbed it the Top Secret Nest in social media posts—in the Dominican Republic and it started shipping to retailers packaged in 20-count boxes on Dec. 4, 2017.

There are now three different vitolas in the Dos77 line.

  • Cigar Reviewed: Chogüí Dos77 Toro
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Top Secret Nest
  • Wrapper: Dominican Republic
  • Binder: Dominican Criollo 98
  • Filler: Dominicana Corojo & Havana 2020
  • Length: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 50
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $10 (Boxes of 20, $200)
  • Release Date: Dec. 4, 2017
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

There is no doubt that the wrapper of this particular Chogüí Dos77 Toro is noticeably darker than samples I have seen and smoked of other vitolas, with the shade reminding me of the color of espresso beans. The exterior leaf has almost no tooth to it at all, although there are a number of obvious veins running up and down its length. Aroma from the wrapper and foot is a combination of oak, sawdust, earth, leather, manure and dark chocolate, while the cold draw brings flavors of aged wood, hay, cinnamon, cocoa nibs, fresh ground coffee and dark fruit sweetness.

Staring out, the Chogüí Dos77 Toro features an obvious spice on both my tongue and my lips, along with dominant flavors of leather and mesquite. Other notes of hay, gritty earth, dark cocoa, bread and an interesting—albeit slight—meatiness flit in and out for the entire first third while the finish is dominated by bitter espresso. The dark fruit sweetness from the cold draw shows itself early on, predominately on the retrohale, where it combines with some obvious black pepper that seems to be getting stronger as the first third burns down. Construction-wise, the Dos77 Toro features an excellent draw and a burn that is giving me no issues so far, while the smoke production is well above average for a cigar this size. The overall strength shoots out like a rocket, but quickly slows, and ends the first third closer to medium than to mild.

While the spice from the first third has totally disappeared by the start of the second third of the Chogüí Dos77 Toro, the dark fruit sweetness has increased slightly, becoming a major player on the retrohale as well as the finish. The dominant flavors remain a combination of leather and mesquite, followed by flavors of earth, bread, hay, anise and baker’s spices. Both the burn and the draw continue to impress, and the smoke production shows no signs of letting up. Strength-wise, the Toro hits the medium mark just after the halfway point, but stalls out there and does not seem to be increasing anytime soon.

Unfortunately, there is a major shift in the final third of the Chogüí Dos77 Toro, with the dark fruit sweetness becoming so light that it may as well have not been there at all. In addition, while the flavors are all still present, the profile has turned more mushy and indistinct, with very few notes rising above the pack. Those that do are a strong and bitter espresso and oak combination, along with the same black pepper on the retrohale that have been present for the whole cigar. While I do have to touch up the burn once, the construction and the smoke production remain decent overall. The strength reaches a point just north of the medium mark before I put down the nub with a little more than an inch to go.

Final Notes

  • The Chogüí Cigars Longsdale took the No. 21 spot in our Top 25 of 2016.
  • I love the logo and the band on this line as well as the overall color scheme. I also love the fact that “Fear the Fu*king Bird” is written on the inside of the band.
  • The ash is extremely flaky on this cigar and tends to fall in annoying small chunks without warning.
  • I found the final third to be inferior in both complexity and nuance in two of the three samples I smoked, which brought down the final score a bit.
  • Chogüí Cigars’ U.S. distributor is Pospeich Cigars, a distribution company established by the Szczepankewicz family who are perhaps best known for their Florida-based retail store, Cigar Hustler.
  • Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
  • The final smoking time for all three samples averaged just under two hours at one hour and 57 minutes.
88 Overall Score

Although I had never ever heard of the Chogüí brand before we reviewed it for the first time in 2016, I was extremely impressed with what the Dos77 Longsdale brought to the table. While there is no doubt that I prefer that vitola to this one, there are a number of similarities in the profile of the two sizes, including the presence of dark fruit sweetness on the retrohale and a dominant woody flavor throughout. Having said that, there is also noticeably more strength in the new size that throws off the excellent balance that the Longsdale had in spades and the flavors are just not as distinct in this larger vitola, especially in the final third. Even with all of those issues, the Chogüí Dos77 Toro is a very good cigar, although I would take the Longsdale all day over the larger vitola if given the choice.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.