Cigar Review: Sabor Cubano Grand Torpedo

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This cigar review of the Sabor Cubano Grand Torpedo is part of a series of reviews on the Top Ten Made in the USA cigars of 2006 For more information, and for more reviews of premium cigars from around the world, check the Cigar Review archive.

If you are a cigar lover, one of the most enjoyable hours you are ever likely to spend will be with a Sabor Cubano cigar made by Luis Sanchez.

Luis is not only a master, he is also an artist.

Quite literally.

He designed the original concept and box art for his La Tradicion Cubana cigar line, based on traditional Cuban designs with paper labels over cedar boxes. (These are not the Perdomo La Tradicion cigars, by the way, and should not be confused with them.) Luis’ La Tradicion Cubana cigars are also quite good, as is their third line, Las Memorias Cubana, and I recommend them as well. I have chosen to include his Sabor Cubano (”Cuban Taste”) line in this top ten list simply because I am a sucker for maduros — and these are very good maduros.

The Sabor Cubano cigar line features a five-year-old San Andreas Mexican oscuro maduro wrapper. You will not end up with blackened lips when smoking one of these, because the wrapper is 100% natural. It has not been “cooked” or colored in any way to darken it.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me back up and fill in a little about Luis Sanchez and “the tradition.” That is really where is starts, because the name of his cigar factory in Miami and the name of his company comes from something he feels very strongly about: tradition.

The Sanchez family has roots in the cigar industry going back to 1928 when they lived in San Juan y Martinez in the Pinar del Rio tobacco province of Cuba. When he started his cigar factory in Miami’s history “Little Havana” district on Calle Ocho (Eighth Street), he started with a dedication to producing cigars with that same Cuban quality and spirit.

His cigars are rolled by Cuban expatriate “Tabaqueros” with an impressive work history before coming to this country: one with 16 years experience at the “H. Uppman” facility in Havana, another with 18 years experience at Havana’s “Romeo & Juliet,” factory, and the grand old man, Leo Peraza, with 46 years experience rolling cigars in Cuba.

The experience shows. Construction on these cigars is flawless. The appearance is beautiful. The wrapper is dark, oily, flavorful and, as I mentioned above, completely natural.

In addition to the San Andreas maduro wrapper, the Sabor Cubano cigars have an Ecuadorean binder and a filler of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco. They burn evenly, with a light gray ash that looks good against the dark cigar. The aroma, both pre-light and while smoking, is earthy and full.

And the flavor. For a cigar named “Cuban Taste,” this stick does not disapoint. It is strong, full-flavored and medium to full in body, yet extremely smooth and rich at the same time. This is an extremely good cigar. You will enjoy smoking it.

You will also enjoy the price. Most online retailers do not carry Luis lines, but one place that does is Fuller’s Pullers. Their price for a box of 20 of the Grand Torpedos is U.S. $79.00, which works out to $3.95 per stick. They also sell them by the five-pack for $23.00 ($4.60 each) and even at that price they are a bargain.

Other online retailers I’ve seen who do have the Sabor Cubano line sell them for more than Fuller’s — usually a little over $100.00 per box of 20.

You will also want to check with your local tobacconist and see if they have them, or can order them for you. The cigars are not available on the La Tradicion Cubana website. They are sold only through retailers. However, there is a contact form on their site and you could check with them to find out if there is a retailer near you who carries them.

If maduros are not your preferred smoke, then by all means try the regular La Tradicion Cubana line or the stronger, fuller-bodied La Memorias Cubana cigars that Luiz Sanchez also produces in his Little Miami factory. All of them are very good. All of them are amazingly economical. All of them are made in the U.S.A.