As you may have read, last October I got to smoke two El Cobre by Oliva cigars, a torpedo and a robusto. The El Cobre is a very heavy cigar, nicknamed ‘the lobotomizer’ and ‘el muerto fuerte’ and till this month only available at Brian Shapiro’s shop but now Non Plus Ultra in Den Bosch will start selling them too. As the torpedo’s were not available, I ordered a bundle of toro’s. When I got them last Thursday I thought that there was a mix up, as there toro’s look more like coronas to me with the 152mm length and ring 46.

The El Cobre cigars have a very nice appearance, dark wrapper and a sophisticated black and copper band. The wrapper has some nice veins which give it a strong and rough look, the aroma is heavy and full but the cigar does feel a bit hard, rolled to tight and that causes the predraw to be kind of heavy. The cigar was a bit dry though, so hopefully it will improve if I let them rest for a while in my humidor. The predraw gave a black pepper flavor.

The pepper is also clearly there when I light the cigar. It’s like being kicked in the balls, this cigar is heavy, very heavy. There was a piece of paper at the bottom of the bundle warning me, it said “super fuerte” but I thought I was a big boy, until I lit the cigar, damn, what a power. To the palate again, heavy black pepper with leather and after a couple of centimeters a few hints of dark chocolate. The pepper is so strong it completely overpowers the chocolate and all other flavors, if there were any. I do notice that the pepper is not really consistent, with some puffs the pepper is stronger then with the next puff or the puff before, sometimes is heavier and spicier then the other time.

At about ¾ of the cigar I start to feel light headed, like I drank too much wine in a short period of time. This cigar is beating me, it’s too strong for me. I felt like Michael Spinks in a fight with Mike Tyson (Spinks was the reigning champion in the light heavyweight champion who had the idea that he could beat Tyson back in 1988, “the fight of the champions” lasted 91 seconds). I try to take control and keep on smoking, but like a fish on a line, I know I will lose the fight anyway. This cigar got me and it got me good.

The draw is heavy, maybe because the cigar is too dry. The smoke is white, but it could be fuller and the burn is pretty and straight. The ash is fantastic, strong and firm. It breaks only once.
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One of my favorite smokes for sure!

If you liked this, check out the V Maduro, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
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I hope i can get my hands on the long awaited V maddies.
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That sounds like my kind of breakfast cigar!!:-):-)
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Found them over here - http://www.discountcigars.org/cigars.asp?parentval=274 :-)
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Not a fan, but nice review.
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Oh man these are one of my Favorites! I have two bundles of these bad boys in Torps. They can give you a little buzz, but I like that! The smoke gives off this weird aroma that I really like and haven't smelled in any other cigar.

Nice review! :-)
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the torpedo's and the toro's can't be compared, the torpedo's have a much better build up. Where the torpedo slowly grows to strenght, the toro will kick you in the ass the moment you light it.

@ Mark, there will be some El Cobre's in my part of the trade which I still have to ship out.
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I tried a couple of these a few months ago. Strong, full flavor and a good kick of vitamin N, but not the richness of other Olivas. I'll stick with V's and G Mad's.
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Nothing wrong with a nice punch in the face or gut occaisonally. Looks like I'm going to have to buy a bundle of the Toro's as well! :-)

-Evan
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