Graycliff Double Espresso Toro Review

Overview

In the pantheon of boutique cigar production, few operations command the intrigue of Graycliff’s Nassau workshop. Tucked within the colonial grandeur of the Graycliff Hotel & Restaurant in the Bahamas, this facility is one of the world’s rare luxury hotel-affiliated cigar factories — a place where rolling tables sit steps away from a five-star kitchen and a cellar holding one of the Americas’ great wine collections. It is from this singular environment that the Graycliff Double Espresso Toro emerges: a premium, hand-rolled Toro that occupies a deliberate and skillfully executed niche within the flavored-cigar segment. For the smoker willing to look beyond the reflexive purism that often greets infused blends, this cigar represents a genuine marriage of craft and concept, one that begins with aged Dominican long-filler tobaccos and a striking Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper — a deep Colorado Maduro shade, chocolate brown, lightly oily and finely toothed — before introducing a coffee and espresso infusion that is integrated, not applied. The result is a smoking experience that honors its name without pandering to novelty.

From the first light, the Double Espresso Toro delivers on its promise. The opening notes are dense and immediate: rich espresso, roasted coffee bean, and a dark cocoa foundation that together evoke the sensation of a freshly pulled doppio. There is a creamy mocha texture on the retrohale, and the sweetness from the infusion is calibrated precisely — present enough to define the profile, yet subtle enough to avoid the cloying artifice that plagues lesser flavored offerings. As the cigar progresses into the second third, the espresso note deepens and a dry, toasted cedar backbone emerges to balance the sweetness. Hints of dried figs and raisins surface alongside a mild leather note, while the infusion recedes just enough to allow the underlying Dominican filler to assert its character. By the final third, the profile shifts toward earth and a pleasantly bittersweet espresso finish — akin to the dregs of a strong coffee — with moderate pepper on the retrohale and a lingering mocha finish that fades with satisfying restraint.

Construction is consistent with the Nassau workshop’s artisanal reputation. The draw offers a slight, deliberate resistance — ideal for a slow, contemplative smoke — and the burn line holds even, with ash retaining structure for one to one and a half inches before releasing cleanly. The vitola’s 6 x 50 Toro format provides a roughly 60- to 75-minute session, placing it squarely in the domain of post-dinner indulgence or a mid-afternoon terrace interlude. While the Double Espresso is a polarizing cigar among traditionalists, those who dismiss infused blends out of hand miss the point: Graycliff’s in-house blending is genuinely skilled, and the espresso character here is woven into the tobacco rather than painted onto it. It is an honest, well-constructed cigar that earns its premium price point — not through gimmick, but through execution. For the coffee lover curious about premium cigars, or the experienced smoker willing to make an occasional detour into flavored territory, the Graycliff Double Espresso Toro is a rare and rewarding find, made all the more compelling by its singular Bahamian origin.