Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano

Binder: Nicaraguan- Jalapa

Filler: Cameroon, Dominican Corojo, Nicaraguan- Esteli

Size: 5 x 52 “Robusto”

Body: Full

Price: $6.50

I was gifted two of these by my friend, Ana of Cuenca Cigars. She has a big cigar store in Hollywood, FL.

I had a hell of a time trying to read the name of this Carlos Torano cigar because of the bright aluminum foil band and lighting. It made no sense to me so I Googled it.

Salutem by Torano.  Salutem is a term of endearment when seeing someone; but in Latin. It also is a toast. And it is also a compliment to people who overcome great adversity. LOL. It’s a cigar, Carlos. Not a war memorial plaque. I’m sorry for disrespecting Senor Torano….but sometimes; the folks who create these names seem to go to the same school as the people who come up with the model name for new cars. I’m surprised there isn’t a Chevy Salutem.

The Salutem was one of two new blends debuted by at the 2012 IPCPR trade show.  The other stick released was the Toraño Master Maduro.  The Salutem, is the first Toraño to use Cameroon tobacco in the filler.  Toraño has used Cameroon as wrapper for its Carlos Toraño 1916 Cameroon, but the Salutem is its first in using the Cameroon as filler.

OK. Enough making fun of the Torano family. They make very good cigars and don’t deserve any disrespect from me….

The construction is great. Solid as a rock. But with just the right amount of give. Reminds me of my wedding night.

The wrapper has an almost dark brown hue. There is some oily sheen and tooth. A few veins here and there and one giant one but not rustic looking.

I sniff it and detect spicy cedar and pepper. And a bit of natural sweetness.

I snip it and light up.

Wow. This stick blasts away with flavor at the start. In the very few puffs, I get flavor profile. And smoke. Tons of it. The most upfront flavor is the red pepper. It set my nose hair on fire.

And then cocoa, wood, nuttiness, and coffee. All in the first one eighth of an inch. Jesus Alou!

There is a nice leathery note that follows. The draw could not be more perfect and the char line is dead nuts.

The Cameroon brings a tobacco sweetness to the table. Very appealing. And the nuttiness reminds me of cashews which adds to the sweetness.

And then I get an odd flavor. It is citrusy. But not orange or lemon. It is lime. I have never tasted lime in a cigar. So I grab a Diet Coke, which I would have done anyway. I take a puff and then a swig. That’s it. A Cuba Libre. Without the rum. I got the same flavor profile when I smoked one last night and was extremely curious if it would happen again? And it did.

I am approaching the end of the first third and the flavors have been cocoa, coffee, leather, nuttiness, lime, and red pepper. The pepper is very strong.

The second third begins and the sweetness changes to a buttery smooth caramel. A rich creaminess is added as well. The earthiness of the cigar begins to show. I could find no info about this having a triple cap but regardless, the construction is impeccable. Not a single piece of wet tobacco comes loose and the integrity is intact.

The second third is where the cigar does the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The flavor profile is going nuts. Each time I take a drink from my Diet Coke, that Cuba Libre comes swooshing back. So far, the cocoa is way in the background. The Cameroon, Ecuadorian wrapper, and Dominican Corojo filler are having a big influence on the flavors. The Nicaraguan portion of the filler is taking a back seat to the other countries.

The stick tastes like a sundae that is loaded with calories.

I can’t begin to tell you how rich and delicious this cigar is. I’m going to have to buy some. And at $6.50, I can probably swing them. The creaminess and sweet caramel and coffee are going bat shit.

The cigar only touches the edge of full bodied during the last couple of inches. The transition was very smooth. There is no harshness and the nub stayed cool to the end.

This is a delicious cigar. The Torano family hit this nail on the head. I definitely recommend this cigar.

And now for something completely different:

Hal Blaine invited me over to Carol Kaye’s house on a nice summer day and told me to bring my bass. I told Hal that Carol was once my bass teacher and he thought it would be fun if we got to see each other again 16 years later.

Hal told me to meet him at the boat dock in Marina Del Rey, CA where he lived due to divorce proceedings. And then he would drive from there. I was driving a 1981 Datsun. Hal drove a Rolls Royce. There was no way he was going to arrive at Carole’s mansion in a Datsun.

I had bought a 1981 Schecter fretless bass new. It was my first fretless and I took to it like a duck to water. Which later found me buying an electric upright bass. I don’t need no stinkin’ frets.

We get there and someone opens my door for me. It is a man servant. You gotta’ be kidding.

Carole, of course, had her own recording studio and that is where we were ushered. The studio had a lounge that would rival a Pasha’s.

Carole entered the room in style and grabbed Hal and smooched him. She turned to me and did the same. She remembered me! I took lessons for 6 months and I was the cousin of famed reed session player, Fred Selden.

We sat down and kibitzed while being served High Tea. Little sandwiches and tea…just like in England. For an hour, Carole and Hal exchanged work stories that fascinated me because they were dropping names like a feral cat drops kittens.

They were dishing dirt on everyone. These two played with every single musical name in the business and had dozens and dozens of Top 10 hits under their belts.

We were just finishing when the door opened and Art Garfunkel walked in. He was in town for some recording work. Actually, he was co-writing with someone. The name was never divulged in front of me.

My heart was beating like a rat.

I’m thinking that Hal invited me for a jam session and Art Garfunkel was going to sing. This was making my head pound. Soon after that, Larry Knechtel entered. He was in the group Bread and part of the infamous Wrecking Crew. He and Hal played on the Bridge Over Troubled Water album and all of the Mamas and Papas albums.

So now we had a rhythm section. Carole marveled at my gorgeous bass and asked if she could play it. She stomped me. This woman was playing electric bass in sessions going back to 1949. I was an ant compared to her. Curved Air Shmurved Air.

We got set up and Carole was so gracious that she let me play bass and she played guitar.

We played everything. You name it. Some of it was woodshedding and some we played from charts. And then it happened. Carole handed me the Bridge chart. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was going to play this song with Art. I blurted out that I was having a panic attack and everyone laughed. Art came over and hugged me. A nice Jewish hug. He kissed me on the cheek and told me to relax. And to excuse any mistakes he might make. OMG!

Fortunately, there is not a lot of bass in that song and it was simple. Mostly, it felt like I was an observer to history.

I asked for a copy of what we played because Carole always had the tape machine on when there was a jam session. But I was told that music never left her house. She didn’t want to see it on a black market, bootleg cassette. I was disappointed but understood.

We played for 6 hours. And then we had dinner. Around 9pm, we left, hugs all the way around, and I was on cloud 9. Hal and I hardly spoke on the way back to his yacht. I was in shock.

My heart is actually pounding as I finish writing this.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS