Plasencia Alma Fuerte Natural Staff Review
I’m smoking a 6.25-by-54 box-pressed Toro, called Eduardo I, from Plasencia Cigars in the Alma Fuerte Natural blend, also referred to as Alma Fuerte Colorado Claro. Alma Fuerte is Spanish for “strong soul,” and the Eduardo I size is named for Don Eduardo Plasencia, the first Plasencia family ancestor to raise tobacco crops in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio in 1865. Today, Nestor Plasencia Jr. is the fifth generation to run the historic family enterprise. Following in the footsteps of his father and lifelong tobacco man, Nestor Plasencia Sr., Nestor Jr. has steadily grown his family’s namesake brand since its debut in 2016 with the help of his brothers, Gustavo and José Luis.
Alma Fuerte Natural is less intense than Plasencia 1865 Alma Fuerte, a blend of all-Nicaraguan tobaccos that the critics in Cigar Aficionado ranked in their ‘Top 10 Cigars of the Year’ in 2017. Both blends are pricier, starting at over twenty bucks for a single cigar. But the Plasencias emphasize that their Alma Fuerte cigars are drawn from the oldest tobaccos in their vast reserves. As one of the largest growers of tobacco in both Nicaragua and Honduras, their access to raw materials is tough to beat.
Even if you haven’t smoked a Plasencia-branded cigar yet, you’ve likely smoked a cigar from the Plasencias. They make several well-known brands under contract for others, including Rocky Patel and Alec Bradley, and they sell much of the tobacco they grow to other cigarmakers. The Plasencias operate farms in Nicaragua’s most desirable growing regions, and Nestor Jr. frequently blends organic tobacco into his cigars. As a graduate of the Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School in Honduras, Nestor Jr. places much value in farming with organic fertilizers over synthetic pesticides as much as possible.
Alma Fuerte Natural is drawn exclusively from Nicaraguan tobaccos aged for a minimum of ten years. The blend comes in three soft box-pressed sizes. The Toro I’m smoking looks immaculate when I crack open a new box. The cigars are packaged in elegant boxes of ten with a pair of gold-and-green cigar bands at the top and a third band on the foot. Every cigar is finished in an oily, cinnamon-brown wrapper leaf grown in Nicaragua’s Jalapa region. When I slip the band off the foot and explore the cigar’s raw aroma, traces of saffron and leather leave a soft impression in the nose.
Plasencia Alma Fuerte Natural exhibits a perfectly uniform complexion from top to bottom. The cigar’s density is equally consistent when I gently squeeze it. After clipping the cap with my Xikar Enso cutter and tasting the cold draw, soft streams of leather and baking spices layer the palate at first. As I slowly toast the foot, hints of mesquite and cedar come to life in the first minutes. Eduardo I is a meticulously well-made Toro, and it’s easy to tell it’s blended with mature tobaccos due to its naturally smooth taste.
Five minutes into the Toro, the binder, filler, and wrapper tobaccos culminate in a soft but rich profile of smoked almond and baking spices with a hint of molasses in the finish. Alma Fuerte Natural unfolds with notes of nuts and spices with a hint of raisin around the edges. The cigar’s texture is especially appealing as it soothes the palate with a soft aftertaste reminiscent of a vintage pinot noir.
The Toro burns cool and evenly throughout the entire smoke. Its affable flavor and aroma make it an excellent introduction to the Plasencia portfolio, if you don’t mind shelling out extra cash for a top-tier blend. By the time the bands are off, and I’m savoring the nub, Alma Fuerte Natural imparts intense spices in the nose but they recede quickly. I expected a greater crescendo of flavor at the end but even without it, the Plasencias have proven they can make a tasteful, refined cigar. My advice is to order a few singles and decide if Alma Fuerte Natural keeps up with other cigars at a comparable price point before you splurge on a box.
