There isn’t much too much of a story to this smoke. Only that it was the Toro I had the pleasure to smoke. You know what? Now that I think about it, there is enough to say for this one.

I can start by saying the day I smoked this was a good day. At least for me it was. It was me and Mable’s weekly smoke day, and the weather was fine. But when I got to his house, the air was tense. I saw Sis’s face. She wasn’t happy. Not good. Sort of made me want to leave. Actually, it really made me want to leave. I was scared Sis and Mable were having a fight. He hadn’t appeared yet. So I was unsure as to why she didn’t seem her usual gleeful self. I asked if it was a bad day for me to be there. But Sis told me she was happy I came along. She said everything I came along it broke the monotony of the boring week. I think she really appreciated me there as well because both she and Mabs had to work from home. Likely tired of the same old shit. Damned Lockdown! I was actually worried my weekly appearance would be bothersome for them both. I didn’t want to find out if I would eventually become undesirable if they saw me too often. I heard there were certain folk that others could only handle in small dosages. I hoped I wasn’t one.

When Mable finally came down from his duties, he didn’t look so happy. They did fight. Well, they must have. It wasn’t one of those dead hot days that left you feeling drained. I saw the two toro sticks and grew worried it was the wrong time for such a size. But when I asked Mable about it, he told me that it was exactly what he needed. And that he was so glad I kept my word and still came along. That was relieving. It seemed Mable was truly set on this Thursday ritual. Awesome for me. It meant good food and good cigars every week. But most importantly, good company.

The man cooked us some lamb chops and broccolini tempura. The lamb was only seasoned. The way grilled meat was perfected. That also left plenty of room for the tempura to make its impression. Delicious. The mix of textures from the stiff broccolini snapping with each bite, to the crisp batter crumbling to a salty taste. Damn! I’m so lucky to have this champion always cook me up a feast.

The tension had long disappeared upon my arrival. I think my presence prompted them to not let any hard feelings come to mind. I hope that that meant they associate me with good times. I want to be remembered as such. Sis was laughing more this time. That was good. But after the meal, Mable instantly wanted the cigar. Maybe he was still upset.

And that, he was. He told me his week had been difficult. And Sis wasn’t helping. They had an argument about buying computer things. Monitors. To help with working at home. Apparently Sis thought it was a waste of money. Mable found that unfair. Work efficiency is always a worthy investment. But she didn’t see it that way. Maybe because they also just bought their puppy golden retriever. Them hounds weren’t cheap. So maybe it was a matter of budgeting and timing. It didn’t matter. Mable had been waiting all week for time to wind-down. And we had Fratello Blu just for that.

The Blu had a nice dark brown wrapper. Maduro, of course. How exciting. I heard these sticks were not hand rolled. Apparently they were machine rolled, which accounted for the budget factor. I also heard the owner of Fratello was an employee of NASA. That’s quite the prestige to hold. NASA is revered for engineering excellence. They dealt with matters of outer space. They better have had a standard of excellence. And it seemed that this cigar wouldn’t be any different. I couldn’t tell the difference between hand or machine rolling. It just felt like a good stick.

And, my god, it was. I knew from my earlier maduros that they were the taste I preferred. I told Mable about that. And when we smoked these sticks, he couldn’t disagree. Tasty. I’ll try my best to describe the flavours. There was a dark earthy taste. And also a slight sweetness. The best way I could describe the smoke was that it tasted like mushrooms coated in chocolate. Uuu… What a fancy Idea. A little strange, the way it sounds, but it was tasty nonetheless. The smoke wasn’t too heavy either. Medium, I’d call it. Overall, a good stick. Lots of flavour and not too heavy.

Mable said it was his most favourite cigar so far. That’s a good thing. For something to claim the rank of ‘favourite’ on the first smoke. Fratello was surely doing something right. Especially on their budget sticks.