Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2 Toro 6″ * 54

Series No. 2 is the Brazilian chapter of Trinidad Espiritu, Altadis U.S.A.’s run through one tobacco country at a time under the non-Cuban Trinidad name, a brand whose Cuban namesake began as a rare diplomatic gift cigar in the late 1960s. Series No. 1 went to Nicaragua. No. 2 shipped in 2021 and went to Brazil, and the flag colored box art is not subtle about it.

Rafael Nodal and AJ Fernandez wrapped it in Brazilian Arapiraca, a thick, oily leaf from Alagoas that ferments down to a proper maduro, over a Nicaraguan binder and a filler split between Nicaraguan and Brazilian long leaf. It is handmade at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez in Esteli. Altadis rates it medium to full.

The 6 by 54 is where the blend reads plainest. There is enough filler per inch for the Brazilian sweetness and the Nicaraguan spice to sit level with each other: cocoa and coffee up front, sweet earth underneath, pepper building late rather than at the light.

Brazilian wrapper leaf is grown small and thick, which is why it survives a long fermentation and why it brings dark sweetness instead of the sharp spice a Nicaraguan wrapper gives. That trade is the whole point of this installment. If you know Series No. 1, this is the same brand pointed somewhere else entirely.

Pairs well with coffee, bourbon, or an amber ale.