Supreme Leaf Toro (2023)

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as the saying goes, and as seems to be the case with AGANORSA Leaf’s Supreme Leaf line. Though, apparently, that doesn’t mean things can’t be slightly tweaked.

The superlatively named line debuted in March 2020 in a 5 x 52 robusto vitola and an all-Nicaraguan blend finished off by a corojo 99 wrapper. Since then, AGANORSA Leaf has continued to add new vitolas, none of which have been too far off from that original robusto. The two largest vitolas both measure 6 x 54, with one coming in a toro vitola and the other in a torpedo. The thinnest vitola has been a 6 x 46 corona gorda, and the first five sizes have been box-pressed.

For the sixth release in the line, the company returned to a toro vitola, though shrunk it down a ring gauge to measure 6 x 52, and made one other notable change, releasing a round vitola for the first time in the series.

“Demand for Supreme Leaf continues to grow and we are committed to releasing the same incredible blend in a new format with each release,” said Terence Reilly, vp of sales and marketing for AGANORSA Leaf, in a press release. “Rolling the blend as a traditional parejo and not box pressing it gives the consumer the opportunity to compare how this vitola compares to previous releases. I’m excited for the feedback from consumers once this hits the market in February, especially since this release will mark the first time in over a year Supreme Leaf will be available and expectations are higher than ever.”

The 2023 edition of the Supreme Leaf Toro comes priced at $13.99 per cigar and is limited to 2,750 boxes of 10 cigars. The line remains a limited production item, with AGANORSA Leaf releasing it in small batches throughout the year.

• Cigar Reviewed: Supreme Leaf Toro (2023)
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Agricola Ganadera Norteña
• Wrapper: Nicaragaua (Corojo 99)
• Binder: Nicaragaua
• Filler: Nicaragaua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $13.99 (Box of 10, $139.90)
• Release Date: Feb. 10, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,750 Boxes of 10 Cigars (27,500 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

This latest Supreme Leaf vitola looks just as I remember the previous ones, meaning a nutty brown wrapper and the bright band of purple, orange and an almost pastel yellow that seems appropriate on an Easter egg. The wrapper feels a bit dry to my fingers as I don’t pick up much oiliness, though there are some sporadic spots of sheen. The leaf has some prominent veins with a bit of puckering, and there are spots where the veins of the binder create some bumps and ridges. All three of the cigars are rolled very firmly and have the same amount of the foot covered, with a section just smaller than a pencil eraser left exposed. The first cigar’s head has a notable angle to it, but beyond that, the cigars all appear to be rolled very well. The aroma from the foot is surprisingly bright with a bit of sawdust, light cake donut, white pepper and then some apple pie, an aroma that is more crust than filling. The more intensely I sniff, the more the cigar tingles my nose, almost increasing exponentially as opposed to linearly. The cold draw is smooth and less vibrant than the aroma, with a bit of peanut butter on wheat bread, and then only a trace amount of light pepper appearing on the finish and only after I’ve taken a couple of cold draws.

The 2023 edition of the Supreme Leaf Toro starts off quite vibrantly, hitting the taste buds with a lot of light wood and white pepper, with the latter evolving into black pepper that lingers on my tongue. The flavor continues to evolve and I get a bit of damp funkiness, making me think of wet chalk at first, though I’m not sure that’s exactly what it is, a question I ponder as the stimulation moves to the front third of my tongue. It’s almost impossible not to get a good amount of tingle in my nose just from the ambient smoke, and when I take my first retrohales, I’m greeted with an incredibly bright sensation that is almost challenging to enjoy due to its vibrance. Through the first inch, the smoke is thick and flavorful, adding just a bit of charred wood as the first clump of ash drops off. There is a thick but subtle creaminess coming into the profile after the first clump of ash drops, a change that further thickens up the body of the smoke and adds a bit to the flavor, though it is still dominated by wood with occasional char and a bit of black pepper on the finish. As the first third starts to come to a close, I find myself impressed by how the cigar has found a nice balance between the creaminess and the fuller flavors. The first third is medium-full in flavor, medium-full in body and mild in strength. Construction is very good, though the cigar makes it known fairly early that in order to stay burning it needs to be puffed on a bit quicker than I normally would.

The second third starts by shedding the creaminess fairly quickly, revealing a very dry flavor marked by wood that has less char and a lighter body than what was offered in the first third. Retrohales are a tick less vibrant, which makes them much easier to enjoy without sacrificing plenty of stimulation from white pepper. It’s not long into the second third that two of the cigars develop some cracks in the wrapper, sometimes with a bit of unraveling but, for the most part, not getting out of hand. It’s not pretty by any means, but it doesn’t seem to affect the experience adversely. Creaminess starts to rejoin the profile ever so slightly around the midway point, and the cigar finds itself with a new flavor profile, one that isn’t as thick or dense on the taste buds but instead is lighter and more tongue-coating. Around the end of this section, the cigar gets a bit more fragrant, with an aroma reminding me of burning cedar and dry pretzels, adding another layer to an increasingly impressive offering from the cigar. Flavor is medium-plus, body is medium and strength is medium-minus. Combustion still has the occasional struggle that necessitates a relight, and there are some issues with wrapper fragility, but the draw, smoke production and burn line are all still very good.

I really like where the Supreme Leaf Toro’s profile is at the final third gets underway, as there is more some more creaminess, which continues to act as both a balancing flavor and one that adds layers to the profile, which continues to have a lot of woodiness, particularly cedar. The pepper in the profile has dialed back a bit as well, a change that shortens the finish. Some char begins to emerge from the wood, and at times it leads to a bit of harshness. But some measured puffs minimize that, leading the cigar to a nuttty, woody finish with accents of pepper and cream filling in the gaps. The wrapper continues to struggle with fragility, but otherwise, construction is good. Flavor finishes medium-plus, body is medium and strength is medium.

Final Notes

• One of the touches that I’ve always liked about the Supreme Leaf line is found on the back of the bands, where there is Max Y Los Cubanos in a font that looks handwritten. Max is Max Fernández, who helped blend the cigars, while Los Cubanos presumably refers to the team at AGANORSA Leaf who created the cigars.
• I’m fascinated by the vitolas selected for this line, namely that a toro has been used twice with a ring gauge’s difference, that there have been two robustos that have also been two ring gauges apart, there was a toro and torpedo in the same size, and now the company has decided to break the box-press trend and go round. That’s before taking into account that there isn’t a 60 ring gauge, and that the smallest ring gauge is still decently sized at 46.
• I was also surprised that two of the three cigars had both combustion issues and wrapper fragility issues. The third didn’t have either, at least not to the levels of the other two.
• I don’t know if many cigar smokers pay attention to how the finish of a cigar changes, but this was one that caught my attention, as it seemed to become shorter and less intense the further into the cigar I smoked.
• I went back and looked at the story about the Supreme Leaf line debuting at the 2020 Tobacco Plus Expo, and a quote from Terence Reilly about the packaging, “The packaging has a bold and assertive look and feel that demands the consumer’s attention on the shelf. You don’t use colors like this unless you are confident in the product.”
• The Supreme Leaf Toro didn’t hit me with much strength, which I was a bit surprised by given the way the cigar started. This is a good example of a cigar that can offer full flavor yet not approach much more than medium strength.
• AGANORSA Leaf advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 30 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Corona Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop carry the 2023 version of the Supreme Leaf Toro.