Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés & Ecuadorian Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 5 x 54 Box Pressed Torpedo
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $11.50
I’ve had my sticks sleeping quietly naked in my humidor for 6 weeks.
THE WHOLE MEGILLAH:
I bought this cigar in a sampler from Small Batch Cigar. I’m intrigued by this blend due to the double wrapper. This line is a limited edition but is still on the market. Small Batch Cigar and Luxury Cigar Club both have the goods…more shameless plugging later.
The cigar is beautifully constructed…like Charlotte. Right down to the pointy cap that makes her a Kohnhead.
The cigar is perfumy with floral notes, dark chocolate, heavy cream, lots of black licorice, charred oak, café au lait, and lemon toffee.
Here we go…
The draw is wide ass open so I will not need my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool for this puppy. This might indicate that the cigar is under filled and it could smoke faster than a speeding bullet.
This baby is a smoker as the cat makes a beeline to leave the room. Pussy.
Wham, Bam, Thank you ma’am…right out of the gate. Big fat notes I described in its aroma show up for my palate along with a hefty dose of black pepper.
Savory and Sweet make an agreement and both come out winners. Still, this is only the beginning…anything can happen.
A lovely woodsy approach kicks in. It’s like camping in the forest…everyone around the smoky campfire…enjoying a good cigar…and then everyone is attacked by a well trained group of bears and ferrets.
I was wrong about the speed of the burn. It is moving like your grandpa when he gets up to take out the trash. He’s gotta do it but he don’t wanna’.
The dark chocolate, creaminess, espresso, black pepper, and generic sweetness are balanced perfectly.
While being very close to being a Nic puro, if not for the double wrapper that includes Mexican and Ecuadorian leaves, the flavors aren’t the usual suspects one expects from the overdone Mexican wrapper and Nicaraguan innards. The Ecuadorian takes the blend into a different direction than the Morphine 2022 sticks. Yes, that blend is pretty good…but this blend is a big step up.
Complexity is present. Transitions are in motion. The finish is more subtle than I expected.
Strength is on the cusp of medium/full.
This is an extraordinary blend. It falls into the category of the flavors holding each other tightly while the tobacco does the heavy lifting. The cigar presents itself as a beast rather than just a run of the mill cigar. Flavors sit at the bottom of the well with the dumb ass kid who fell in who wasn’t paying attention and the cigar boasts look at me and appreciate me as an entire portrait of cigar blending. Never mind the individual flavors…enjoy the whole as it is presented in living color.
I smoked the regular Morphine 2022 last night and while I enjoyed it, this Torpedo is a different animal all together. That Ecuadorian wrapper gives the profile an entirely different eye to the world.
I like this version much better than the one missing the double wrapper.
Skip the single wrapper stick and go straight for this toddler.
The spiciness recedes to a friendlier approach. It is just enough to give the cigar its oomph but does not interfere in the overall picture.
You won’t need a sophisticated palate to enjoy this blend. The strength isn’t aggressive and the blend keeps on keeping on with more complex notes in every puff.
New flavor notes: Peanuts, corn flakes, cinnamon, and jalapeno.
Back in the days when I played in cover bands, “Stairway to Heaven” was always a must play. It didn’t take long before I found deep dread in its repetitive manner. Even earlier than that, “Proud Mary” was a must. That one was worse. I was stone faced for both songs on stage. I always made it clear that any band I played in never played “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.” The audience always loved it when I saw other bands playing it, but it made me cringe.
At 2” burned, the cigar becomes Godzilla. Holy shit. The sweet spot has landed. A huge rush to my palate and my liver sausage brain are hit with a taser. A giant leap for cigar kind.
Medium/full is in execution mode.
The cigar changes profiles and becomes a flavor wheel bomb. All the aforementioned notes are in play, but now other nuances hit the 10 ring: Caramel, rich anise, cumin, a beautifully sweet marzipan, black tea, and chocolate covered malted milk balls.
But the depth of the leaf choices are the headliners. A giant leap in its complexity. Transitions are moving at the speed of a muskrat chased by a cheetah. The finish drips from my mouth like downing a gallon of milk in 15 seconds.
The char line is dead nuts.
A spectacular blend is in play.
I was not expecting this. I am overwhelmed by its intensity.
Despite the nuclear explosion, the cigar continues to be as smooth as my tush.
First sip of water and the cigar gets its own star on Hollywood Blvd.
Full tilt strength arrives in a chariot with Charlton Heston at its helm.
With more than 6 weeks of humidor time, I am confident that the sweet spot will reveal itself earlier.
This blend is nothing like its brother version. This is a monumental blend.
I stop writing and buy a fiver of this blend. At roughly $10 per stick with promo codes, this is a killer purchase. Black Label Trading could have easily charged a few bucks more for this stick but clearly they aren’t greedy. I bow down to their sense of making a brilliant cigar for an easily attainable price.
The halfway point arrives at 45 minutes.
“Barracuda” is playing. When I got home from London in the late 70’s, I was in a car with my dad and that song came on the radio. My pop got excited and thought it was me in Curved Air. I explained it was not me, but he wouldn’t have any. I just let it go. It made him proud and happy. It is never easy to impress a father when you go off on a journey of which he did not approve.
I know I am repeating myself, but this cigar is amazing.
This cigar could have been passed off as a $20 stick.
It is awe inspiring that a simple tweak of a blend makes so much difference.
Constantly describing flavors that my palate picks up is a redundancy I do not care for. Our palates are as different as fingerprints. You might pick up totally different nuances. What is important is that the cigar presents a Herculean impression. This cigar has all of its shit in one bag. Stunning.
Thank God this little cigar takes its time and is in no hurry to meet its demise.
I cannot think of a comparison for this blend. The cheese stands alone.
It rips the mundaneness of a Mexican wrapper with Nic guts into the netherworld.
We supported Deep Purple on a few gigs. After the show, we all went back to the same hotel. It had a pool. We all stripped down to our skivvies and dove in. Half an hour later, the cops showed up. Someone staying at the hotel complained that a bunch of women were swimming naked in the pool. The cops turned out to be good guys and ended up asking for autographs and told us to swim as long as we desired. Good times.
I am floating in a sea of swarming simbas.
Oddly, the nicotine is at a tolerable level. Newbies…dig in. Seasoned smokers will absolutely love this stick.
I indulge in constant sips of water after every puff. I do not tire of the flavor explosions.
Savory v. Sweet is in a perfect balance.
My PerfecDraw tool is ready to be used to nub the cigar. There will be nothing left as I am receptive for wanting more.
I believe I’ve said all I can describe about this fantastic blend.
Final smoking time is 85 minutes.
My sponsors Small Batch Cigar (10% off with promo code katman) and Luxury Cigar Club (15% off with promo code katman) have these cigars in stock.
If you do not take my advice that this is a must blend, you are no longer in my will.
RATING: 95
Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
Cigar Reviews by Phil 'Katman' Kohn 
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