AJ Fernandez New World - Cameroon Toro - BOX OF 20

In all his years blending some of the most celebrated cigars in the premium market, AJ Fernandez had never put a Cameroon wrapper on one of his own blends. The New World Cameroon, released in 2018, was the first time. The African leaf over his own Estelí-grown Nicaraguan tobacco earned three ratings above 90 points and multiple buyers calling it the best Cameroon on the market.

Every New World blend is defined by its wrapper. The Oscuro uses a dark Nicaraguan leaf for power and chocolate. The Connecticut uses a light US-grown shade leaf for elegance and cream. The Puro Especial uses a Criollo '98 leaf from a specific farm for terroir. The Cameroon brings something none of the others can: an African wrapper leaf grown in Central Africa that is unlike any tobacco grown in the Americas.

Cameroon wrappers are distinguished by three qualities. First, natural sweetness. The African terroir produces a leaf with a distinctive sweetness that comes from the soil and climate rather than from fermentation, which makes it a genuinely different character from maduro sweetness. Second, tooth. Cameroon leaves have a natural bumpy texture when you run your fingers across the wrapper, which experienced smokers recognize immediately. Third, fragrance. The aromatic complexity of a good Cameroon wrapper produces a room note that is richer and more nuanced than most American or Caribbean wrapper leaves.

Cigars International's release description captured the historic significance and the flavor shift simultaneously: "Can you believe in all his time blending, AJ's yet to release a cigar with a Cameroon wrapper? Well, no longer. While the first New World was a full-bodied, all-throttle blend, this one's a little closer to medium. Lighting it up, you'll find tons of sweet, spicy notes perfectly balanced by the African leaf."

The binder and filler are both Nicaraguan, both from AJ Fernandez's own estate farms in Estelí. This keeps the core tobacco in familiar territory while letting the African wrapper do something genuinely different on the outside. The box press on the Toro is the same construction used across the Oscuro, giving the cigar a firm, well-made feel. The Toro runs 6 x 50, slightly narrower than the Connecticut and Oscuro Toros, which keeps the wrapper proportionally prominent per draw throughout the session.

Klaro's review captures the development accurately: earthy, white pepper, and a little leathery in the first half, then hazelnuts and vanilla and a faint coffee bitterness as the session progresses, then more cedar and dried Cameroon nut notes toward the final third. One buyer who has smoked over forty of these stated flatly: "by far the best Cameroon on the market."

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Flavor progression:

1. First third: African Cameroon wrapper opens with earthy sweetness, white pepper, and a leathery character, the Nicaraguan core adding cedar and light spice underneath
2. Second third: hazelnuts, vanilla, and a faint coffee bitterness developing, sweet spice balanced by the all-Nicaraguan estate filler, the wrapper's natural sweetness most prominent
3. Final third: more cedar-oriented with dried nut Cameroon flavors, touches of vanilla bean and white pepper, a hint of milk chocolate on the close

Key Features

1. Brand: AJ Fernandez
2. Line: New World Cameroon
3. Historical note: AJ Fernandez's first-ever Cameroon wrapper cigar
4. Release: 2018
5. Blender: AJ Fernandez
6. Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A., Estelí
7. Country of Origin: Nicaragua
8. Wrapper: African Cameroon
9. Binder: Nicaraguan (AJ Fernandez estate farms, Estelí)
10. Filler: Nicaraguan (AJ Fernandez estate farms, Estelí)
11. Construction: Box-pressed, handmade
12. Vitola: Toro
13. Size: 6 inches x 50 ring gauge
14. Strength: Medium to Medium-Plus
15. Flavor Profile: Earthy sweetness, white pepper, leather, hazelnuts, vanilla, cedar, coffee, milk chocolate
16. Ratings: 92 pts Cigar Journal, 90 pts Cigar Aficionado, 90 pts Cigar Snob
17. Box Count: 20 cigars
18. Price per Cigar: approximately $7.00