Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra Box Pressed

Most of the time when cigar companies add new sizes to existing lines, it’s usually a new size as far as the dimensions of the cigar are concerned.

This is not that.

As the name implies, the Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra Box Pressed is a box-pressed version of the existing Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra.

The Travesía is the name given to the 6 1/2 x 54 size, with the newest version of the line being the first box-pressed size and the first addition to the line since its introduction in 2017.

• Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía (6 1/2 x 54) — 2017
• Plasencia Alma del Campo Sendero (6 x 56) — 2017
• Plasencia Alma del Campo Madroño (6 1/2  x 58) — 2017
• Plasencia Alma del Campo Guajiro (5 1/2 x 54) — 2017
• Plasencia Alma del Campo Tribu (5 x 52) — 2017
• Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Box Press (6 1/2 x 54) — 2020

As with the rest of the sizes in the line, it’s made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco from Plasencia’s farms.

• Cigar Reviewed: Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra Box Pressed
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Plasencia Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $17 (Box of 10, $170)
• Release Date: September 2020
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t think this was the box-pressed version at first glance. While it has a noticeable press, it doesn’t have the super-sharp edges that some other box-pressed cigars have—including some from Plasencia. Beyond that, it’s a very attractive brown chocolate wrapper with a vein structure that sees the veins go in a rather similar direction. The aroma from the Nicaraguan wrapper has leather, ammonia, earthiness and some walnuts. The foot is sweeter with chocolate, vanilla ice cream and raisins. There’s a touch of irritation thanks to some sherry-like sweetness. Cold draws are also sweet with chocolate, orange and some chocolate muffin flavors. It’s rather sweet and also somewhat open, which makes sense given the size and box press.

Once lit, there’s a very balanced profile of cashews, chocolate, leather and some hay. Things change after a half-inch when wood takes over as the main flavor. It’s mixed with earthiness, along with something that reminds me of vegetable oil, and water cashews. The Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra Box Pressed has a very compact profile, meaning it takes a bit more work to figure out just what’s going on. The finish is drier with peanut butter, oak and burnt pasta. Retrohales have burnt bread and not much else initially, though the finish has a deep meaty flavor with bit of spice and oak. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-full and strength is medium-plus. Construction is great, though the burn rate isn’t the quickest in the world.

There’s a pretty dramatic shift in the second third, though a wood flavor remains dominant. It’s easy to pick this up as an oak flavor compared to the generic wood mixture in the first third. Behind that is a lot more toastiness as well as citrus and some dry leaves. The finish has oak, bread, some saltiness and hay. Retrohales of the Alma del Campo have lots of paprika over hay and leather, a much more dynamic profile than before. Flavor picks up to full, body remains medium-full and strength is still medium-plus. Construction remains fine, though smoke production is on the decline.

The Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra Box Pressed takes another turn with nuttiness taking over as the main flavor. Behind that, there’s some saltiness and a bit of toastiness. If you like paprika, you will like the retrohale in the final third as it’s a lot of paprika, at times, just paprika. Some puffs have some burnt meatiness, but for the most part, it’s just a medium level of paprika. The finish has lots of toastiness, some citrus, white pepper and a flavor kind of like a watered-down lemonade flavor. Flavor finishes medium-full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium-plus. All three samples need a touch-up to help the cigar keep burning to the finish.

Final Notes

• There are differences between a round and a box-pressed cigar beyond just the shape. Box-pressed cigars are typically rolled round with a bit less filler inside so that the pressing can take place. I suspect smoking the round Travesía and the box-pressed version side-by-side will show some notable differences.
• I’ve grown to understand that just about any minute change will affect how a cigar tastes. Even something as small as going from a 6 x 50 toro to a 5 x 50 robusto usually results in a noticeably different cigar.
• Of course, many cigar companies will tweak the blends a bit between the sizes, which only adds to the differences.
• At 56 characters, I suspect this is one of the longer names for a cigar that we’ve reviewed this year.
• If I had to guess, I would have thought this cigar is a bit thicker than just 54 ring gauge. Because of the box press, it’s more challenging to tell, but the cigar felt thicker.
• Plasencia has previously included a lid that doubled as an ashtray for its boxes. It’s begun to do away with that feature for the entire Alma Fuerte line. The Travesía Box Press does not come with the ashtray either. The rest of the Alma del Campo line still comes with the ashtray.
• Plasencia advertises on halfwheel.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was a very long three hours and 25 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Famous Smoke Shop and JR Cigar all carry the Plasencia Alma del Campo Travesía Toro Extra Box Pressed.