El Mago Pepe Box-Pressed Toro Tubo

Last year, Nick Fusco launched the El Mago brand as a way to honor his grandparents, Gonzalo and Maria Torre, who died in the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla. in 2021. Gonzalo was born in Cuba but managed to escape the country “on supposed military orders to Czechoslovakia,” according to the company’s website. There, Gonzalo met Maria while studying engineering at a local Czechoslovakian university and the two were married in their college dormitory hall in 1965.

After living in Cuba, Canada and Venezuela, the couple settled in Miami, where Gonzalo invested in The James Hotel, an Art Deco-styled hotel located in Miami Beach. According to the El Mago website, Gonzalo owned and operated The James Hotel for over 30 years with the help of his wife, children and grandchildren.

One of the three debut blends that El Mago released earlier this year is the Pepe Box-Press Toro Tubo, a 6 x 52 box-pressed toro made up of a Mexican San Andrés wrapper covering a broadleaf binder grown in the U.S. and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua. The cigar was named Pepe as a reference to Gonzalo’s nickname.

The El Mago Pepe Box-Pressed Toro is packaged in individual square tubes priced at $17 each and is sold in 12-count boxes. The cigars are made at Miguel Pinto’s MGE Cigars Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, and there was a total of 600 boxes shipped to retailers in May 2022.

• Cigar Reviewed: El Mago Pepe Box-Pressed Toro Tubo
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: MGE Cigars Factory
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: U.S.A.
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $17 (Box of 12, $204)
• Release Date: May 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 600 Boxes of 12 Cigars (7,200 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Covered in a dark chocolate brown-colored wrapper, the El Mago Pepe Box-Pressed Toro is both exceedingly smooth and almost totally devoid of any visible oil. All three cigars are nicely firm when squeezed, and there are no protruding veins on any of them that I can discern after physical inspections. A combination of leather tack and generic berry sweetness leads the aromas emanating from the wrappers, followed by earth, barnyard, white rice and coffee beans. Scents from the feet are more woody and nutty in nature and also include notes of straw, sourdough bread, slight mint, cinnamon and more beery sweetness. Finally, after a straight cut, the cold draws bring flavors of gritty earth, creamy cashews, cedar, leather tack, cocoa nibs, black pepper, baker’s spices and light brown sugar sweetness.

Starting out, the El Mago Pepe Box-Pressed Toro offers a zing of spice on my tongue combined with a bit of black pepper, but the star of the show is a creamy cashew flavor that only gets stronger as the first third burns down. Secondary flavors of powdery cocoa nibs, toasted bread, gritty earth, bitter espresso, cinnamon and a light vegetal note that reminds me of raw broccoli at times. Black pepper and raisin sweetness fight for control over the retrohale for the entire first third, but neither note is that much stronger than the other. Flavor and strength both end the first third at a solid medium, while the body hits a point just under the medium mark. In terms of construction, all three cigars exhibit excellent attributes, with the burn, smoke production and draws giving me no issues whatsoever.

During the second third of the El Mago, the creamy cashew flavor is joined at the top of the profile by a distinct sourdough bread flavor. Additional notes of powdery cocoa nibs, dank earth, dry hay, cedar and light cinnamon flit in and out at various points, while the amount of black pepper and raisin sweetness on the retrohale has not budged. Flavor bumps up to medium-plus, and the body hits a solid medium, while the strength increases to medium-plus. The draws and smoke production continue along their excellent paths for all three cigars, but the burn lines on two of the sticks run into enough trouble that I am forced to touch them up in an attempt to avoid larger issues.

Sourdough bread and creamy cashews remain the top flavors in the profile of the cigar through the final third, followed by more earth, cinnamon, hay, leather tack, pencil lead and brewed coffee notes. There is a noticeable increase in the amount of black pepper that is present on the retrohale—all but drowning out the raisin sweetness at times—and the strength increases as well to land at a point just under the mark, both of which have a negative effect on the overall balance. Flavor ends the cigar at a point just over the medium mark, while the body increases to land at medium-plus. Finally, while the draws and smoke production remain trouble-free for all three cigars, two cigars have burn issues again, leading to minor corrections before I put the nubs down with less than an inch remaining.

Final Notes

• According to the El Mago website, the cigar company’s name El Mago—which translates to The Wizard from Spanish—was created by combining the first two letters from the first names of Gonzalo and Maria.
• The El Mago cigar label is printed with a photograph of Gonzalo and Maria standing in front of the aforementioned James Hotel.
• This is the first box-pressed toro that El Mago has released for sale in the company’s short history.
• While two of the cigars I smoked for this review featured very similar weights—specifically, 15.82g and 15.16g—the last cigar came in quite a bit heavier at 17.11g.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged one hour and 42 minutes.