My Father S Special Toro

For over a decade, Cigar Rights of America (CRA) has released samplers to help raise money for the trade organization’s fight against cigar regulations. I’m not sure anyone knows how many of these samplers have been released—I was caught off guard to learn that the fifth sampler was released in 2013—but there’s no doubt the samplers have become much more prevalent over the last few years.

Part of that is because there are more of them—some years have seen two samplers per year—some of that is due to the CRA doing more work to spread the word about the samplers and some of it is because the samplers have gotten a lot more interesting. I use the word interesting because of cigars like the one being reviewed today. Of late, the 10-count samplers frequently contain around five cigars that are either exclusive to the sampler or very difficult to otherwise get.

The most recent sampler shipped to stores in February. Like previous samplers, it contains 10 cigars—one cigar from 10 cigar companies that serve as CRA’s greatest benefactors—and is priced at $150.

• Tatuaje Limited Robusto Especial
• Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Pyramid
• La Flor Dominicana Andalusian Bull
• Fuente Fuente OpusX The Undefeated
• My Father S Special Toro
• Padrón Black No. 52
• Alec Bradley Double Broadleaf Limited Edition Figurado
• Ashton VSG Torpedo
• Oliva Serie V Melanio Diadema
• Sixty by Rocky Patel Toro

Three of the cigars are new and appear to be exclusive to the sampler: the ones from Alec Bradley, Arturo Fuente and My Father. The Padrón Black No. 52 has been released in previous CRA samplers but is not known to have been sold otherwise. The Tatuaje Limited Robusto Especial is actually the Lomo de Cerdo, which was released last month, meaning the CRA Sampler served as a soft launch for the cigar. The Oliva Serie V Melanio Diadema has been included in previous CRA packs and, in 2019, was offered to non-U.S. retailers as a limited edition. It is not sold as a regular production item.

There were 4,000 CRA Spring 2023 Freedom Samplers created. Unlike some of the previous samplers, this pack does not come with a CRA membership.

My Father Cigars, Inc. never replied to my questions about this cigar, but it would seem like this cigar is based on the My Father S Special, or at least one of them.

This is the third cigar that I know of to use the S Special name, though the first two cigars are rather different.

The first known release of it came in a white cardboard box that contained three cigars. These cigars were Nicaraguan puros that were sent to some of My Father’s largest accounts to sell.

In early 2011, the company released another 5 x 50 S Special that came in a three-count cardboard box, albeit a red box instead of a white box. That cigar also used a different band, one that looks very similar to the original El Centurion band, and a different blend: an Ecuadorian habano rosado wrapper over Nicaraguan tobaccos. Perhaps most notably, that cigar was used as a gift with purchase for events, i.e. buy a box of My Father cigars at an event, get one of these three-packs with your purchase. I also seem to recall seeing these cigars offered in green cardboard boxes.

The My Father S Special Toro measures 6 1/4 x 52 and uses the same band as the second cigar, i.e. the event one. It’s unclear if it’s the same blend as the second cigar.

• Cigar Reviewed: My Father S Special Toro
• Country of Origin: Undisclosed
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 6 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $15 (Sampler of 10, $150)
• Release Date: February 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 4,000 Samplers of 1 Cigar (4,000 Total Cigars)*
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

*This number is based on the number of samplers.

It’s been a long time since I smoked a My Father S Special, but this looks like what I remember, albeit in a larger format. There’s a medium-brown wrapper with a walnut color, though the color of each leaf isn’t consistent throughout. The wrapper has an incredibly supple feel and there’s a slight box-press to the cigar, something I’m not sure is supposed to be there. The aroma from the wrapper is medium with scents of cardboard or newspaper leading leather, generic earth, saltiness and some yellow mustard. The foot is more medium-full with an aggressive chocolate aroma as the dominant smell. There’s leather, yellow mustard and red apple behind it. Cold draws have leather, cocoa, fruity flavors and bits of ammonia and creaminess.

Fortunately, none of the ammonia is present once the My Father S Special Toro is lit. The first puff delivers a medium-full mixture of walnuts, earthiness, cedar and some mild spices; the overall effect reminds me of fall. A nutty mixture takes over the first puff with earthiness, creaminess and mild pepper behind it. The finish has nuttiness, a taste that reminds me of soggy french fries and, eventually, some herbal and mineral flavors. There are minor amounts of pepper and a bit of creaminess, though both flavors are milder compared to the initial moments when the smoke is on the palate. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is just shy of medium. The first cigar has a somewhat tight draw, though it doesn’t seem to be causing any other problems other than the tighter resistance. Construction on the other two cigars is excellent in the first third.

While it doesn’t happen until the cigar is at the near midpoint, a potato crisp flavor—think Pringles—begins to edge out both nuttiness and creaminess for the top spot. Behind that trio are straw flavors, a tart barbecue sauce and some mustard. One cigar has mild amounts of harshness, though the cigar is simultaneously smoother compared to the first third. The finish sees a creaminess overwhelming potato, straw and fruity flavors. Retrohales have a stronger and sharper nuttiness, though it’s not as enjoyable as the nuttiness from the first third. Secondary flavors include herbs and a flavor that reminds me of the taste of stale bottled water. The finish has more sharpness thanks to a black pepper flavor at the back of my throat with nuttiness and creaminess serving as accents. While that might sound like a Connecticut cigar, those three flavors are much more aggressive here than I find them in a cigar with a Connecticut shade wrapper. Flavor is still medium-full, though milder than before, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. Construction is great on two cigars, though the cigar with the tight draw needs a touch-up and it continues to suffer from having a tight draw.

The My Father S Special Toro gets toastier during the final third. Somewhat surprisingly, the nuttiness—the star of the first two thirds of the cigar—is pretty much completely gone. Earthiness, dry fall leaves and toastiness lead Nilla wafer-like sweetness, dry hay, roasted cauliflower-like flavors, sharp white pepper and anise. I rarely get all—or even half—of those flavors on a single puff and the individual puffs vary quite a bit, another major difference compared to the earlier parts. Regardless of what flavors I pick up initially, the finish is toasty and spicy. Toastiness leads dry hay and some bitterness and after 10 seconds, white pepper begins to go all over the palate. Retrohales have hay, leather and white pepper and finish more or less the same, albeit with some added creaminess. Flavor is medium-full or full depending on the cigar, body is medium-plus and strength has sneakily climbed to medium-full. Touch-ups are needed on two cigars, though the final cigar I smoke is able to make it start to finish without a single construction issue.

Final Notes

• My Father never confirmed the size of these cigars. We measured them at:
  • 6.24 x 52 (20.33g)
  • 6.22 x 52 (16.36g)
  • 6.24 x 53 (17.47g)
• The difference in weights is one of the starkest I’ve seen since we started measuring cigars. It’s important to remember that this may not be due to the amount of tobacco. It’s plausible that the cigar that weighed 20.33g was heavier because it retained more moisture than the other cigars. We aren’t doing any sort of process where we normalize the cigars to humidity before weighing, which makes this a risk. Given that these cigars came from three different sampler packs, it may or may not be subject to more variance than cigars that came out of the same box.
• One cigar was responsible for most of the construction deductions due to both a tight draw and multiple touch-ups. The other two cigars were excellent, save for one touch-up.
• We also aren’t keeping track of which cigar is which, so I’m not sure if the heavy cigar was the one with a tight draw.
• The companies donate the cigars to the CRA for these packs, which are then sold to retailers. The proceeds from the sale of the cigars are donated back to the CRA. Boveda donates the bags and one of the cigar companies handles the sales and distribution. My understanding is that the vast majority of the money ends up going to the CRA. In the case of the CRA Freedom Sampler Spring 2023, that should mean a donation of more than $250,000.
• These packs, along with substantial monetary donations from the same companies, have made a difference for the CRA. A decade ago, the group was known within the cigar regulatory community for having lackluster finances, but today things have been turned around.
• More importantly, the CRA’s finances are having a direct effect on the cigars most of our readers smoke. The CRA solely funded the most recent part of the Cigar Association of America et al. v. United States Food and Drug Administration et al., a federal lawsuit filed by three cigar trade groups. That most recent part scored the largest win for the cigar industry, one that could lead to premium cigars being deregulated from FDA regulation. You can read more about where that lawsuit stands here.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was just shy of two hours.
• Site sponsor Atlantic Cigar Co. has the CRA Freedom Sampler Spring 2023 for sale. Site sponsor Cigars Direct has broken up its sampler and offers the My Father S Special Toro for sale individually.