David Burney (@jdburney1)

After a long break due to personal matters that required a significant amount of time, I am now continuing my "theme week" posts. Theme Week 29 = Toraño This label is under-rated among cigar smokers, IMHO. I have always liked the Toraño products I have in my humidor. I also have quite a few of 15 year old Virtuoso, which are no longer made. Although only on rare occasions, I sometimes love to pull out a box-pressed Exodus 1959 or an Exodus 50 Years cigar. History The Toraño family's history in the cigar industry dates back to 1916, when Santiago Toraño, the great-grandfather of Carlos Toraño, began brokering Cuban tobacco. The Toraños are known for their complex cigar blends, which are made with tobacco from a variety of countries. After the Castro revolution, the Toraños lost their tobacco farms when the communists stole everything and subjected their decades of hard work for their family to nationalization. They were forced to leave Cuba, fleeing for their lives. The Toraños had to start over from scratch and began growing tobacco in other countries, including the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Ecuador. The Toraños made private labels for other cigar distributors for many years. In the mid-1990s, the Toraños began making their own brand of cigars under the Toraño family name. Carlos Toraño became the president of Toraño Cigars in 2005, succeeding his father. The Toraños are one of the top cigar making families in the industry, and their legacy spans four generations despite the tragedy they suffered at the hands of the murderous Communist thieves in Cuba. Other Theme Weeks =