Better late than never. For the month of November I chose to review a JML 1902 Petit Torpedo. I had never heard of this cigar until I received it from MarkinCA for the November selection. Information was hard to come by on the cigar as the La Tradicion Cubana Inc. website is currently unavailable. However, I was able to find out about the cigar from cigarcyclopedia.com.
The JML 1902 Petit Torpedo is a 54 x 5 cigar handmade in Santiago, Dominican Republic by La Tradicion Cubana Inc. This cigar was introduced by Luis Sanchez in 2007 and named after his grandfather Jose Miguel Losa. The binder and filler are Dominican while the wrapper is a Pennsylvania broadleaf maduro. I read elsewhere that the binder was Honduran, but not according to Cigarcyclopedia. The cigar is listed as full bodied and comes in bundles of 20 for about $4.00 ea. I'm unsure of the exact type of tobacco in the filler, but I could swear I tasted Ligero throughout the smoke. For this review, I used the Independent Cigar Rating System Evaluation Sheet. On to the review......
Pre-smoke:
The wrapper was a beautiful dark oak color with an oily sheen. There were a few large veins running the length of the wrapper. I noticed a slight irregularity on the cap. Overall a nice looking cigar. I took a sniff of the wrapper and noted a very slight smell of hay or straw. The scent at the foot was of straw and roasted nuts. The cigar was very firm with no soft spongy spots at all. I clipped the cigar and placed my tongue on the cut end where I noted a salty, bitter, and spicy flavor. The pre-light draw gave hints of burnt coffee which was not as bad as it sounds!
Image
Smoke:
After toasting the foot, I began to slowy smoke this cigar. I really tried to slow down and enjoy every flavor I could detect. The first flavors I noticed where bitter coffee followed by almonds and dark chocolate. The dominant flavor throughout most of the smoke was bitter dark chocolate. The aroma of the smoke in the room was pleasant, bring to mind roasted nuts. The cigar started off with a medium strength, but seemed to become stronger in the 2nd and 3rd part of the smoke. The finish on the palate was of almond and bitter chocolate but it was also quite dry. The draw was perfect and the cigar never got hot on the fingers or the mouth. The burn had to be touched up only once, but the ash was beautiful and it held on for about half of the smoking time. I finished the cigar in a little over an hour and fifteen minutes.
Image
If I were to compare this cigar to another, it would have to be a LFD ligero. While not nearly as tasty as an LFD, the flavors reminded me of it quite a lot. I think this cigar is an very good value smoke and it probably would be excellent after a little time to mellow out. I really enjoyed reviewing this cigar! Thanks again to MarkinCA for providing a wonderful smoking experience!
Jay
[Reply]