Topper Danli - Better than a Cremosa - Barely

[macpappy]

I smoked a Topper Danli yesterday and thought I would post a review to everyone what they would be getting into if they tried one of these.
Check out the link if you're interested.
http://macpappysworld.blogspot.com/

[Adriftpanda]

I almost nubbed mine yesterday at the Chico herf.

[wavescrashing]

Doesn't sound too bad. I smoked a Cerdan a few months ago. That seemed to be the best unknown El cheapo I've had in quite some time. Here's their info: http://www.vintagecerdan.com

[Don Fernando]

I smoked a Topper Danli yesterday and thought I would post a review to everyone what they would be getting into if they tried one of these.
Check out the link if you're interested.
http://macpappysworld.blogspot.com/

Is it too much trouble to post the review here? No offence, but I think this is a lame way to get visitors on your site.

[macpappy]

Is it too much trouble to post the review here? No offence, but I think this is a lame way to get visitors on your site.

Not trying to be lame. I just thought the review as I wrote it might be too long to post here. Also getting visitors to my blog isn't an issue I don't make any money off of it.

[macpappy]

Rather than to appear "lame"...

As I mentioned earlier, Rodney at Habanos in Slidell suggested I give the Topper Danli a try. So I picked up two of the toro size (6“ x 50 rg). He said that some of his customers had been asking them to find some decent cigars in the $2 - $3 range and that he had smoked a few of the Toppers and decided to put them on the shelf. Habanos has both the Topper hand mades and Topper machine made cigars available.
I had the opportunity to sit outside this afternoon and smoke one. I went on line to see what I could find out about these since I had never heard of them before. This is what I found on one of the websites:

”The Topper Cigar Company was founded in 1896. It is one of the oldest and most respected names in the cigar industry. Topper Cigar Company has been one of the leading producers of machine made ALL NATURAL tobacco cigars for over a century. They are also one of the most well known names in the hand-made cigar business. We at Best Value Cigars are honored to carry this fine line of cigars and encourage all cigar aficionados to try these incredible cigars.

The Topper Centennial, handmade in the Dominican Republic, is a mild and flavorful cigar. It comes with a rich Ecuador wrapper and Dominican filler. It has received excellent ratings from various blind tastings, including an 86 from Cigar Aficionado. “

Now this isn’t the one I bought. In fact when I found the Topper Cigar website, toppercigar.com, they didn’t have an Centennial listed. That didn’t surprise me when further research said the Centennial was release to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary in 1996.
They did have the Danli which was described as ”a lighter Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper with medium bodied Corojo filler.“ I also found, according to another website, the the Topper Danli is made for Topper by the Camacho plant in Danli, Honduras.
The first thing that popped into my mind when I smelled the cigar before lighting was bittersweet chocolate. This was encouraging but unfortunately didn’t last through the flavors I picked (or didn’t pickup) while smoking it.
Visually, you have to conclude that this cigar was rolled by people who are in their third week of learning how to roll cigars. And, they used tobacco that was too veiny and low quality to be used by better quality cigars. You know how a good premium hand rolled cigar is round and it will roll if you put in on a flat surface and give it a littler push? Not these. Calling it oval shaped would be generous. Honestly, it’s appearance was just plain poor.
The good news is that it had a good draw bordering on too easy and it lit well. For the first half of the cigar it actually burned fairly evenly and didn’t require any touchup. The flavor wasn’t anything special but on the other hand, I have actually paid more for a cigar and couldn’t make it past the first inch. By that I mean, the Danli, to my taste, was fairly mild, had some creaminess to it with a hint of spice. However, I tried hard to pin down any specific flavor and just couldn’t identify any. I had smoked about 1/3 of the cigar when the dark, gray mottled ash fell off. Just a little past the halfway mark, and about where some of the heavier veins were on the wrapper, it went out on me and I had to relight it. It still put out a good amount of smoke but the burn was definitely uneven after the relight. I was able to pick up a difference in flavor at this point also and it seemed to get a little stronger. The flavor became a little ”woodier“ than it had been before it went out.
With about 1/3 of the cigar left though it started going downhill fast. The burn was very uneven and I had an overpower sense of ash in my mouth. It wasn’t pleasant so I put it down for good.

Over all, It was actually a litter better than what I had expected of a cigar in the $2.00 range. I think if someone wanted a cheap cigar to smoke while cutting the grass or doing yard work and wasn’t planning to just sit down and enjoy a cigar, then it is better than some I had. It was definitely better than some of the house brands you would get from Thompson, but of course, that’s not saying too much.

[s15driftking]

Doesn't sound too bad. I smoked a Cerdan a few months ago. That seemed to be the best unknown El cheapo I've had in quite some time. Here's their info: http://www.vintagecerdan.com

tell me more, im interested in buying a box

[wavescrashing]

tell me more, im interested in buying a box

Bobby, these are very much worth the low price. Some people that have purchased boxes said that every stick was covered in plume.
I just posted a review thread to help you make your decision.
Other than that, check out the story.

Cerdan Review (http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?p=617046#post617046)

[Don Fernando]

Thanks for posting it here :)