MBombay Mōra Toro

Last year, MBombay entered the market with three lines in a relatively quick period of time: Classic, Maduro and shortly thereafter, Mōra. The latter is a limited production line from the company, which now has six different lines in its portfolio. For MBombay, it’s not just about growing the number of lines the company offers, there’s also been quite a bit of expansion in the vitolas offered since I reviewed the cigar last August.

Originally, the line had just a Lancero (7 x 38) and Toro (6 x 52), but there is now six more sizes, with most coming in larger paper jars instead of traditional boxes.

Here’s what I said when I first reviewed the Mōra Toro:

I found the Mōra to be enjoyable, but it has its annoyances, mainly centered around construction. While never problematic, it is slightly behind many of the cigars on the market today and not helped by the price point. The flavors are deep and actively change throughout the profile, particularly when you have a mindset that allows you to think about them. While I struggle with the $14 price point, I do think this might be able to carve out a niche at that price level as the vast majority of cigars north of $12 are either much stronger or much lighter.

• Cigar Reviewed: MBombay Mōra Toro
• Country of Origin: Costa Rica
• Factory: Tabacos de Costa Rica
• Wrapper: Dominican Havana Corojo
• Binder: Peru
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Ecuador
• Size: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $14 (Boxes of 15, $210)
• Release Date: Aug. 18, 2014
• Number of Cigars to be Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Redux: 1

I really wish there was an easier way to tell the various MBombay lines apart by their bands. The added lines have not only made that more confusing as they all use the same base bands. This only gets more confusing because there are actually two bands, the large band on this cigar and a smaller band for shorter vitolas, but both are used regardless of the blend. That being said, the main band is incredible. It’s not only extremely-well designed from an art perspective, but the quality of the printing is equally as notable. As for the cigar, it has some bumps and a few noticeable veins, but it otherwise seems well-rolled. There’s almost no aroma off the wrapper, but I do pick up a bit of floral flavors. It’s probably actually coming from the foot,w which has a much more noticeable floral flavor, sweet cinnamon, some chocolate and caramel—almost like a Butterfingers. The cold draw has some bubble gum, floral and bits of cedar and cocoa—it tastes very good and rather reminiscent of Cuba.

The Mōra kicks off with a big cedar note and a bit of saltiness. It’s unfortunately missing all the floral flavors that I previously smelled. As the first third burns, figs, cedar and creaminess make up the core along with some mild spice towards the end. It’s medium-plus in strength and medium-full flavor. A coffee flavor adds itself to the mixture midway through as the cigar sweetens. It’s a good move for the MBombay, but still not enough to write home about. Towards the final two inches, things turn earthier with a burnt coffee and creaminess mixing in the back. A wheat pasta emerges on the finish, which is interesting, but ultimately a bit misplaced.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.