Toscanello Verde Limoncello

Doing something a little different today; I recently acquired a 5-pack of small Italian “half-cheroots,” with limocello flavor added to them. These are actually made in Italy, not one of the places known for cigar production, but they're apparently pretty popular throughout Europe, and I kind of want to give them a try for curiosity's sake. Toscano, the manufacturer or the smaller Toscanellos, uses a fire-curing process to cure their tobacco, rather than the traditional air-curing process used by most other cigar-makers.

Cigar: Toscanello Verde Limoncello

Vitola: Half-Cheroot (3”x 33)

Price: €5.00/box of 5 (Approx. $1.10/stick)

Origin: Italy

Wrapper: Italian Kentucky
Binder: None
Filler: Italian, South American, and Far East Kent
Body: Mild

Rating (out of 10): 9.8

Appearance:
These are very short, dark, rustic-looking sticks, wider at the foot than at the head, which is uncapped and requires no cut. The wrapper is a dark chocolate color, with plenty of veins and oil, and no band.

Construction:
The construction looks quite good; no soft spots or tears to be found.

Aroma:
This little cheroot smells very sweet, which, of course, is due to the addition of limoncello flavor. Normally not my thing, but I wanted to give it a try anyway. I figure it can't be worse than that limoncello-soaked sponge cake I had once. If you ever get a chance to try one of those, don't. Trust me.

Review:
I imagine this is going to go pretty quickly, and reviewing by thirds probably won't be a thing. So I'm just going to give a straight review without dividing it up.

The cold draw is open, and very sweet. I can definitely taste the limoncello in there, along with some mild earthiness. The added flavor is not like an artificially-sweetened tip; it's more like the flavor was infused into the tobacco either during the fire-curing process used by Toscano, or during the humidification process.

Once lit, the flavor is smooth and absolutely delicious. It's surprisingly tasty, actually, given my disdain for sweetened and flavored cigars. The taste of limoncello is absolutely unmistakeable, and I'm getting the faintest hint of anise in there, as well, like a limoncello mixed with the slightest bit of sambuca.

The limoncello flavor produces a distinct aroma while it burns, as well. I think I'm even detecting a very subtle vanilla on the aroma, also.

The ash column is a dark grey in color, and is holding firm as the little thing burns perfectly evenly.

The flavor is nice and mild, not at all overpowering. I think it would actually go quite nicely with a shot of limoncello following dinner.

Closing Thoughts:
As I mentioned before, I tried this one out of curiosity. I'm glad I did. It may not be something I getthe chance to smoke often, being a European cigar, but I'm glad I managed to get my hands on at least this little 5-pack.