Alec Bradley Magic Toast

Alec Bradley Magic Toast

Strength: 4 / 5
Size:  Toro (6 x 52)
Origin: Honduras
Price (local): $10.45
Wrapper: Honduran
Flavor Text:

Buttery smooth!

Ever since he hit the #1 Cigar of the Year with Prensado, you’d guess that Alan Rubin (the founder and chief mind behind Alec Bradley) is blessed. Blend after blend, year after year, his cigars continue to grow in popularity… and the critics continue to love them too, doling out 90+ ratings by the dozen. Today, we shine the spotlight on a release from the 2018 IPCPR trade show: Magic Toast. And to clarify, we’re talking toast of the whiskey kind, not rye or sourdough. 

A strange name to be sure, but one with meaning: Magic Toast is named after a drink shared in one of Honduras’s tobacco fields. But I wouldn’t blame you for thinking it references the blend — this buttery-smooth cigar features a unique mixture of natural tobacco sweetness, chocolate, and hints of cedar. A blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobaccos, Magic Toast fits right into the rest of the AB portfolio, and I’m guessing it’ll find a place in your humidor most easily. 

I don't have the most vast experience log with Alec Bradley, but from what I've tried, it hasn't been a bad brand by any stretch. I've heard a lot about the AB Prensado, which won Cigar of the Year once, but I've been meaning to get around to it. I smoked a Blind Faith over the summer, and I did like that one, so I decided to grab a Magic Toast, as I've heard good things about the cigar and wanted to broaden my horizons a little bit.

The Magic Toast is billowing with chocolate and nutty notes from the very start. Some would grade this cigar as on the higher end of the body spectrum, but I didn't really experience any strength from this one until much later in the smoke. It certainly is a cigar that adds intensity through the life of the smoke, but for the first half, I think you get minimal pepper and maximum chocolate and nuts. These flavors meld together wonderfully and really make the first half of this cigar a lot of fun, albeit a little ordinary. These two flavors are ones that you would easily find in many cigars across the industry, but in this cigar, combined with the Honduran wrapper, they just present very clearly and they have a fresher, slightly different flavor profile to them backed by an all-Honduran blend. I loved the way they were presented in the first half of this stick.

The second half of this cigar is where things get interesting. The number one thing that is noticeable is the uptick in strength that this cigar experiences. It's nothing drastic, but the spice increases and you definitely experience more of a mouth tingle. The same flavor notes remain, but take a bit of a backseat to the black pepper you'll experience from this cigar. I also got more of a leathery taste from this smoke into the second half, but nothing too overpowering. It switches from flavor expose in the beginning, to satisfying the needs of the full-body smoker on the back end. For someone like me, this was a fantastic discovery, as I love some obvious flavor combined with some back-end punch from any smoke that I pick up. I've been tiptoeing the line of medium lately, so to get back into fuller body smokes with this Magic Toast was more than welcome by myself and my palate. Just a gem of a cigar but definitely a little stronger of a back end, just as a warning to those who prefer the more mild smokes.

I'd recommend this one to anyone who likes Honduran blends and wants to try a cigar that will display a constant evolution through the life of the smoke. It sneaks up on you a bit, so make sure you like stronger blends of tobaccos before grabbing this one. If you read deeper into this smoke, there are more flavors to pull from it, like rich, dark coffee and some earthy sweetness. Definitely a complex cigar, and a real joy to anyone who wants a lesson in identifying flavors and a constantly-changing smoking experience. Try it.

Happy smoking! CB