When I started tasting some of the rich tobacco notes early in the smoking experience of the La Gran Oferta Toro, I had high hopes for this cigar. However, once the richness subsided, this became an average smoke that really lacked some of the complexity I had come to expect from a My Father Cigar. It’s a cigar I can position for both the novice and experienced cigar enthusiast. In particular, if a novice wants to smoke a My Father Cigar looking for a medium/medium plus smoke without the spice, this is a good option.

What I found was a blend that was smooth and flavorful, with extremely good construction and well-integrated strength that never threatens to go over a point slightly stronger than medium. Having said that, other than a base dark chocolate flavor, a dark cherry sweetness and an ever present black pepper note on the retrohale, the flavors seem to be significantly more subtle compared to most My Father blends, meaning there were times when there was virtually no changes at all. While My Father makes a number of better blends—namely the Le Bijou 1922—the La Gran Oferta certainly has a place in the company's portfolio and I am looking forward to trying the other violas in the line.

La Gran Oferta opened up with a solid mix of cedar and earth, backed with touches of sweetness and black pepper on the palate. On subsequent puffs, the cedar flavors definitely have an edge and there is a searing, but short-lived, red pepper spice on the nose. So far, the recently glued cap leaf was staying put, as well. Before the first third was over, the sweetness resolved into more of a chocolate brownie note, while the cedar faded into a secondary note. 

As I got into the second third, the chocolate note went toward more of a dark chocolate with a high cacao content, which mixed very well with the pepper. I also started picking up on some baking spice. Earth and coffee notes were in the background.

In the last third, the earth and coffee notes came to the fore, swapping places with the chocolate flavor which faded to the background. Pepper stayed fairly consistent on the palate and nose.