JC Newman

May 18, 2014

La Musa Mousa Toro (6 x 50)






Video review HERE.


(from the House of Emilio website)

Muses are here to inspire. La Musa Cigars pay tribute to a dear friend of ours known to do just that. Mousa, is a unique blend, produced in Esteli, Nicaragua from carefully selected tobaccos. This cigar will be limited in quantity based on harvest conditions. A true masterpiece in the finest tradition.


La Musa cigars are available in 5 sizes: Robusto, Toro, Torpedo, Corona, and a limited Lancero, and come in cabinet style boxes of 25.


Medium bodied and complex, Mousa is designed for the refined palate with an appreciation of subtle nuance in texture and flavor of the smoke. This blend in the toro (6×50) size received a 92 in Cigar Snob, May/June 2012 issue in its former branding, Grimalkin. “Mousa” as you see it on the band, is the Koine (1st Century) word for Muse in Greek.

Mousa Robusto (5×50)
Mousa Toro (6×50) reviewed today
Mousa Torpedo (6×52)
Mousa Corona (5.5×44)

Wrapper: Habano Rosado
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan


The cigar has an oily wrapper and is well made. The wrapper is a very dark brown with the slightest amount of a reddish tint. The cigar is well packed and has an interesting foot.




The test draw after cutting the cap was excellent. The initial flavors at light up were a tart, sweet citrus which reminds me of tangerine, cocoa, and coffee notes red and black pepper rated at an 8. I expect many changes so I let the cigar settle down for a few minutes.



About 3/4 inch in the burn is perfect. The flavor notes are like I described previously but you can now add nutmeg and unsweetened dark chocolate. The pepper lingers nicely on the finish and it's a black pepper. The finish is a sweet cream. The order of flavors at this point are a blast of a citrus and nutmeg, followed by a cocoa, and unsweetened dark chocolate and coffee. There is still a combination of red and black pepper on the front end. The finish is unchanged. The cigar is medium to full bodied.




About 1 1/2 inches in the cocoa notes are more noticeable now.  You still get the citrus notes first but the cocoa notes are a close second and very nice. The other aspects are about the same. 




At the midpoint there are a lot of dry wood notes. The cocoa notes are now subdued along with the citrus notes. The nutmeg notes are gone entirely. The red and black pepper are noted on the front end. The finish is now a sort of a toasted cream. There appear to be cocoa notes to go along with the sweet cream.




With about 2 inches remaining the flavor rundown is: sweet citrus, subtle wood and cocoa, unsweetened dark chocolate and coffee are holding the base. The red pepper is still good and the black pepper is subtle. The finish is a sweet cream with some cocoa notes and lots of lingering black pepper. The cigar is still medium to full bodied.




The cigar ended with all the notes I described throughout the review. You get the flavors in various amounts throughout the course of the cigar making the cigar very interesting. I'm not sure if you would call this a complex cigar but it makes numerous changes. The cigar took about 1 hour 20 minutes to smoke. The House of Emilio and Gary Burgess continually come up with interesting boutique cigars. This is another very good cigar from Gary. I enjoyed this cigar very much. I am a fan of red pepper and cocoa when they are in the proper form and this cigar definitely has it!



Score: 92

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