Top Hat Staff Review
Top Hat is an affordable bundle made for bargain hunters, and today I’m smoking a 6-by-50 Toro called the Ritz. While the name suggests the cigar is strictly reserved for the nobility, the price point tells a different tale. As a matter of fact, if you’ve got a roomful of hungry coolerdors to feed at home, like I do, Top Hat is guaranteed to fill every square inch of spare space you’ve got without gobbling up your entire cigar budget for the next three months.
A chestnut-blond Connecticut Shade wrapper enshrouds a tasty core of premium Cuban-sandwich tobaccos from the Dominican Republic. Top Hat cigars are handcrafted in a 7-by-50 Churchill, called the Waldorf, in addition to the Ritz I’m firing up. Both sizes come in traditional bundles of 20, starting around $45, and they’re outfitted in old-time bands depicting a top hat.
The cold draw leaves a scrumptious impression of cedar, coffee bean, and sweetened pecan, with subtle undertones of fresh tobacco and spice. After clipping the cap with my guillotine cutter and enjoying a few unlit puffs, I torch the foot with my lighter. Top Hat passes my pinch test with flying colors, too. I can tell that an expert assembled this cigar based on its size, weight, and its uniform density of tobaccos from head to foot. I can’t detect a single soft spot or bump during a thorough inspection.
After toasting the foot for a minute, Top Hat develops a delicious profile of cashew, buttered toast, and spice, with a floral and woody aroma in the nose throughout the first seven minutes. Sometimes, Cuban-sandwich, or mixed-filler, cigars can lead to a flaky ash, but not Top Hat. This impressive specimen is assembled by artisanal cigar rollers at the top of their craft in a respected boutique cigar factory in the Dominican Republic.
Top Hat is a great fit for folks in search of new yard ‘gars to smoke while they’re riding the lawn mower or raking the leaves. As far as flavor and construction, they offer an elevated experience compared to other cheap cigars. But pricewise, when you’re only paying a paltry $2.24 apiece, Top Hat outperforms cigars that cost five times as much. Tasting notes of oak, vanilla bean, and cappuccino mingle over the cigar’s initially woody and nutty profile as the second half unfolds.
The flavor stays mild with fleeting nuances of sweetness as the Ritz progresses. Top Hat transitions into a savory profile of cocoa and coffee bean, but it maintains its mellow, approachable taste, making it an ideal smoke to share with friends and novices who don’t smoke often. The Ritz is surprisingly refined for a mixed-filler blend. After forty minutes of smoking, my taste buds have been treated to a carousel of flavors without veering into any bitter or acidic moments.
Top Hat cigars possess a short finish, meaning the aftertaste won’t linger on your palate. After burning through most of the nub, I’ve been smoking the Ritz for nearly an hour. Nonetheless, I would be completely comfortable enjoying a second cigar if I had the time. It’s a delightful smoke to savor casually while I’m putzing around my yard or walking the dog. It’s smooth, doesn’t sting the eyes, and it’s one of the most affordable bundles in our entire warehouse. Grab a batch with your next order and let me know how much you like Top Hat, too. I love getting fan mail.
Until next time, long ashes to you!
