United Gold Star Toro

The Gold Star brand has had something of a winding path to reach its current form—initially debuting in 1995, going dormant for years, then resurfacing in 2024 as a limited edition that supported the Navy SEAL Gold Star Program (raising an impressive $30,000 in the process). Now, the brand returns once more as a standard production line in United Cigars’ portfolio, though with an adjusted recipe and renewed purpose.

“Gold Star pays our homage to the classic Dominican tradition while pushing the boundaries of flavor complexity. Every draw is a tribute to the passion and skill from the Ventura family factory, our time together on this blend was driven by a true friendship.” —Oliver Nivaud, United Cigars’ director of operations

Gold Star Toro Breakdown

While the regular-release version retains its Ecuadorian Habano 2000 intermedio wrapper from the country’s Quevedo region, there’s a shift from Ecuadorian to Indonesian Sumatra for the binder. The filler blend—comprising Dominican ligeros, Criollo ’98, Corojo ’98, and Connecticut Broadleaf—has been tweaked to include higher percentages of both ligero and Broadleaf, theoretically amplifying the cigar’s body and strength. Produced at Tabacalera William Ventura in the Dominican Republic and aged for one year post-rolling, the Gold Star line debuts in three formats:

Appearance

The overall look of the Gold Star follows United Cigars’ standard stars-‘n-stripes aesthetic, prominently featuring a gold star logo that contrasts nicely over a textured black backdrop. The band has a premium feel, including fairly thick paper, nice embossing, and effective color contrast that aligns well with the company’s established visual identity. Inspecting the cigar itself, the toro appears to be double capped—though it could potentially be triple, as the seams blend together quite seamlessly at the head. The wrapper is a hint paler than your typical natural/Habano leaf, displaying good-looking seams throughout its 6″ x 54 frame. One notable characteristic is the veins, which appear darker than the wrapper itself, standing out quite prominently despite not being particularly thick or protruding. The cigar feels somewhat light in the hand despite its substantial dimensions; however, when squeezed, it seems to be around medium in bunch density.

The wrapper immediately offers a tangy aromatic quality, suggesting hints of orange rind accompanied by subtle baking spices. Moving to the foot, the profile shifts toward terrarium/barnyard notes, with a touch of cinnamon lingering in the finish. After cutting, the pre-light draw proves to be slightly looser than ideal, delivering flavors of ginger, nutmeg, and cabinet spices, along with an unexpected corn chip quality.

Smoking Experience

The Gold Star Toro opens with a dry pepper blast that borders on harsh, accompanied by a subtle pine note that creates an almost cooling sensation on the palate. After a few minutes, the profile begins to warm up and round out, introducing caramel into the mix with a hint of sweetness lingering in the background. There’s a quality reminiscent of salted peanuts that becomes apparent early on.

Performance issues emerge quickly, with the burn becoming wavy and requiring a small touchup at around the half-inch mark as the smoke output begins to dwindle from the increasingly crooked burn line. The smoke has an aromatic quality to it, offering that of nuts, spice, and sweetness, lingering in the room with a pleasant air note between puffs. That initial dry pepper remains present, though it integrates with the overall profile more harmoniously as the cigar develops.

The draw, which started slightly loose in the pre-light inspection, firms up to reach an ideal resistance. However, what began as a concern for looseness ironically transforms into the opposite problem, continuing its progression until finding itself on the firm end of the spectrum.  The ash holds for approximately one inch—though it could have maintained longer had it not been tapped to facilitate a touchup. On the palate, the smoke primarily hits the tip of the tongue and extends to the nearby sides, with the cut tobacco offering a somewhat sweet sensation against the tongue. Despite the tightening draw, the cigar produces a medium-light smoke output, while the burn line remains relatively straight following the ash tap and touchup. At this stage, the cigar delivers medium-plus flavor, mild-medium strength, and a medium-light body.

As the experience develops, there’s a great contrast between zestiness and sweetness. However, signs of burn issues return, with smoke output lessening, sweetness receding, and fiery pepper increasing. Tapping the ash confirms tunneling of the burn, necessitating another touchup/relight. This intervention instantly restores the sweetness, now led by rock candy notes. The strength begins to pick up after passing the halfway mark, with the smoke creating a tingling sensation on the tongue that lingers like a mild version of licking a 9-volt battery.

After yet another small touchup, natural sweetness emerges with a honeydew-like quality. The flavor remains at medium-plus, while both strength and body approach the medium mark. The final stretch maintains a similar sweet cabinet spice profile without venturing into overly dark or harsh territory. The fiery quality, which was previously more notable in the retrohale, transitions to become more pronounced on the palate. Notes of toasted nutmeg with piney components emerge, accompanied by a menthol-like cool sensation and a Nilla Wafer sweetness that rounds out the experience.

Would I Smoke This Cigar Again?

Burn concerns aside, I’d be happy to have a few of these around for repeat sessions. In fact, with additional samples, the construction inconsistencies became less noticeable, perhaps having something to do with acclimation in the humidor. The cigar offered a generous smoking time and notable complexity—versatile enough to serve as either a casual everyday smoke or a contemplative nightcap, depending on the occasion.

• While both the 2024 and 2025 versions were crafted by the Ventura family in the Dominican Republic, the cigars were moved from the family’s smaller El Maestro factory to their recently renovated Tabacalera William Ventura facility (which had suffered a fire in 2022).
• Differentiating the two versions, the 2024 cigar has added color (an American flag in the background) on the primary band, while the regular release is simply gold and black. The 2024 version reads “Gold Star Limited Edition” on the box, while the regular release features only “Gold Star” on both box and band.
• The blend is said to include Corojo ’98. I’d typically be inclined to take this as a typo (intended to be Corojo ’99); however, this varietal has been listed more than once by various manufacturers in the past few years (e.g., Luciano Y Panda), and added research is likely in order.
• This style of blend is sort of in my ideal wheelhouse—being a lighter/sweeter take on the Habano genre. I almost think of this style as having the elements I like between Connecticut and Habano. It’s sweet and nuanced, like a Connecticut, while retaining more intensity and spice, as you’d expect from a Habano. Other cigars in this range would be the Mil Días from Crowned Heads or the Illusione Epernay.
• The regular-production Gold Star cigar was announced only last week, and is slated for a soft launch with roughly a dozen retailers in March. It will then get a national release at the 2025 PCA Trade Show, which takes place April 12–14 in New Orleans.
• Currently, the United Gold Star ranks on Dojoverse as “100% Smokable,” placing in the bottom 85 percent of cigars on the all-time leaderboard (though, notably, the cigar was added to Dojoverse very recently).

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