El Septimo Alexander Toro Review: 100 Minutes of Complexity

The El Septimo Alexander Toro is a cigar that gives you a lot and then keeps going. At 100 minutes with a flavor profile that develops across five distinct stages, this is a cigar that demands your attention and rewards every minute you give it. It is rare to find a cigar that can be divided into five parts as clearly as this one.

Table of Contents

Construction of the El Septimo Alexander Toro

The El Septimo Alexander Toro arrives with an immediately noticeable silky oiliness on the wrapper. It is even, firm, and consistent in the hand with no soft spots or packing issues to be found. The construction here is excellent and inspires confidence well before the first light. This is a cigar that has been built with care.

Band Impression

The band carries the figure of Alexander the Great, and the choice is not accidental. El Septimo’s Emperor Collection is built around history’s most powerful rulers, and naming a cigar after the man who built one of the largest empires of the ancient world sets an expectation. It positions the Alexander as a cigar meant to command attention, to be smoked with intention rather than in passing. Whether a cigar can live up to a name like that is the real question, and this one comes closer than most.

Size of the El Septimo Alexander Toro

Length: 6 inches (152 mm)
Ring Gauge: 54 (21.4 mm)
Format: Toro

A full toro at 152 mm with a 54 ring gauge. Built for a serious, extended smoke. The extra length compared to a standard robusto gives the blend time to develop and evolve across five distinct stages, which is exactly what happens.

Blend of the El Septimo Alexander Toro

Part of El Septimo’s Emperor Collection, the Alexander is named after Alexander the Great and was introduced at the 2022 PCA Convention. The wrapper leaf is undisclosed by El Septimo, which is unusual but not without precedent in the premium cigar world. For more on the brand and the man behind it, read our interview with El Septimo’s Zaya Younan.

Wrapper: Undisclosed
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican Republic, Ecuadorian

Scent and Cold Draw of the El Septimo Alexander Toro

Before lighting, the wrapper gave off notes of hay and fruitiness. The foot offered hay alone. Clean and simple.

The cold draw brought maltiness and hay. Gentle and inviting, exactly the kind of pre-light that sets you at ease before a long smoke.

1/5 — Let’s Light Up the El Septimo Alexander Toro

The first third opened with a creamy texture with a light suggestion of butteriness on the palate.

The flavors I felt in the first third were fruitiness, citrus, cedar, a vanilla bean, cashew nuts, carbonation, a light anise, a light spruce needles, a light peach skin, a light hay, and a light florality.

I want to stop at the carbonation. It is a note I rarely encounter in a cigar and it appeared early and clearly here. There is also a vanilla bean character — not vanilla extract, not vanilla cream, but the dry woody sweetness of an actual vanilla pod. These two notes together made the first third feel genuinely distinctive.

The retrohale in the first third was smooth. Light hay and cedar, with a light bright syrup-like sweetness following. No harshness, no bite. If you are not yet retrohaling, you are missing half of what a cigar like this offers, and our complete guide to retrohaling walks you through it.

2/5 — The El Septimo Alexander Toro Shows Its Complexity

The texture became creamier and more full in the second third. The butteriness that opened the first third disappeared and the profile shifted clearly.

The flavors I felt in the second third were florality, citrus, cedar, hay, anise, a sweet nut mix, a vanilla flora, a light honey-like sweetness, a light camomile tea, a light orange peel, a light bright bread, and a light carbonation.

The vanilla note evolved here from a stick to something more floral — a vanilla flora rather than the dry woody character of the first third. The camomile tea was a new arrival and added a gentle herbal softness to the profile.

The retrohale in the second third was smooth. Cedar, clean and focused.

3/5 — The El Septimo Alexander Toro Finds New Depth

The texture remained creamy as in the second third.

The flavors I felt in the third third were hay, a florality toward the tulip end of the spectrum, camomile with a hint of milk, a sweet woodiness, a light orange peel, a light anise, a light cedar, a light general fruitiness with a suggestion of berries, a very light white pepper, a very light leather, a very light citrus, a very light spruce needles, and a very light saltiness.

The florality here moved in a specific direction — tulips rather than a general floral note. And the camomile took on a creamier, milkier quality. These are subtle distinctions but real ones, and they mark the third third as its own stage in a long and developing smoke.

The retrohale in the third third was smooth. Cedar.

4/5 — The El Septimo Alexander Toro Deepens

The texture became creamier and richer as the fourth third arrived.

The flavors I felt in the fourth third were spruce, a darker florality, a general woodiness, a combination of cashew nuts and pistachio, hay, light dark berries, a light leather, a light raisin, a light combination of honey and syrup-like sweetness, a light white pepper, a light carbonation, a light camomile with a hint of milk, a light anise with dried herbs, a light citrus peel, a light spruce needles, and a very light saltiness.

The profile had shifted from bright and citrus-forward to something darker and more complex. The dark berries, raisins, and darker florality gave this stage a different character entirely from the first third. The honey and syrup note arrived together as a combination rather than separately.

The retrohale in the fourth third was smooth. Cedar with a suggestion of white pepper.

5/5 — Let’s See How the El Septimo Alexander Toro Finishes

The texture remained creamy and rich throughout the final third.

The flavors I felt in the fifth third were a dark woodiness, florality, a nut mix, citrus peel, a light cedar, a light leather, a light dark berries, spruce needles, a light white pepper, a very light coffee latte with sugar, a light saltiness, a light camomile with milk, and a very light earthiness.

The retrohale in the fifth third had a slight tickle in the nose — woodiness and a light white pepper. The cigar finished clean with no bitterness and no harshness.

After Taste

The aftertaste lingered with woodiness and a light walnuts. A dry and refined close that suited the length and character of the smoke.

Smoke Time

Approximately 100 minutes from lighting to the final puffs.

Draw

Excellent throughout all five thirds. Open, consistent, and effortless from the first puff to the last.

Burn Quality

Even and self-correcting from start to finish. The silky oiliness of the wrapper translated into a clean and steady burn throughout the 100-minute smoke. No touch-ups were needed.

Body of the El Septimo Alexander Toro

Medium on the border of mild. Consistent throughout despite the length of the smoke. The Ecuadorian habano binder and the blend of Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican, and Ecuadorian fillers produce a body that is present and satisfying without ever becoming aggressive or heavy.

Price of the El Septimo Alexander Toro

The El Septimo Alexander Toro retails at $20 per cigar. For a 100-minute smoke with five distinct stages of flavor development, construction of this quality, and the complexity this cigar delivers across its full length, that price is extremely low compared to what you actually get. It belongs on any honest list of the best cigars for the money.

Conclusion

The El Septimo Alexander Toro is a cigar that asks for your time and gives you something in return at every stage.

Five thirds. 100 minutes. A profile that opens with carbonation and vanilla bean in the first third, moves through camomile tea and orange peel in the second, shifts toward tulip florality and dark berries in the fourth, and closes with woodiness, spruce needles, and a faint coffee latte note in the fifth. It is rare to find a cigar that can be divided into five distinct parts as clearly as this one, and very few cigars at any price deliver that kind of sustained development.

The carbonation note is something I have rarely encountered, and the way the vanilla character evolves from a dry woody vanilla bean in the first third to a floral expression in the second is the kind of transformation that makes a long smoke worth every minute.

If I compare price versus quality versus flavor, the El Septimo Alexander Toro is extremely low in price compared to what you get. At $20 for 100 minutes of this kind of complexity, the value here is hard to argue with.

If you want the full picture of El Septimo as a brand, including more reviews and the story behind it, read our complete guide to El Septimo cigars.

Frequently Asked Questions About the El Septimo Alexander Toro

Is the El Septimo Alexander Toro worth buying?

Yes. The Alexander Toro delivers 100 minutes of sustained flavor development across five distinct stages. The construction quality, the complexity of the profile, and the value it offers make it one of the more compelling cigars in El Septimo’s lineup.

What does the El Septimo Alexander Toro taste like?

The Alexander Toro opens with fruitiness, citrus, cedar, a vanilla bean, cashew nuts, carbonation, and light spruce needles. The second third brings florality, camomile tea, orange peel, and a sweet nut mix. The third and fourth thirds develop toward dark berries, raisins, darker florality, and a honey and syrup combination. The fifth third closes with dark woodiness, spruce needles, a light coffee latte, and a very light earthiness. The aftertaste lingers with woodiness and light walnuts.

How strong is the El Septimo Alexander Toro?

Medium on the border of mild. Consistent and approachable throughout despite the length of the smoke.

How long does the El Septimo Alexander Toro smoke?

Approximately 100 minutes. This is a cigar for when you have time and attention to give. Not a quick smoke.

What tobacco is in the El Septimo Alexander Toro?

The Alexander Toro uses an undisclosed wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and a filler blend of Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican Republic, and Ecuadorian tobaccos.

The El Septimo Alexander Toro was purchased independently. No compensation was received for this review. At VDG Cigars, no cigar is reviewed because of who makes it or who asked. Only because it deserves to be.