El Cobre torpedo

[Don Fernando]

As you might know, the El Cobre is produced by Oliva and used to be a personal blend for Gilberto Oliva and it became a house brand for Brian Shapiro's shop. Brian is the international head of sales for Oliva. A few years the cigars were also introduced to The Netherlands and I reviewed all four vitolas in the past, the churchill, the toro, the robusto and the torpedo. The torpedo review is a few years old, so it was time for me to revisit it. You can find the cigars in a few select shops in the U.S. and The Netherlands for a nice price, in The Netherlands this torpedo has a price of € 5.50



The wrapper is dark and feels greasy. It has a lot of oil and a few veins. Once I release the cigar from the cellophane I smell a strong barnyard smell. The construction is flawless. I love the simple, pretty band. As soon as I wet the wrapper to cut it I taste the pepper. The predraw is good. I taste raisin with a lot of pepper.



I taste pepper with some soil and coffee. I also taste a hint of dark chocolate but mainly I taste pepper. After half an inch the flavors change to herbs with lots of black pepper. After a forth of the cigar I taste herbal coffee with pepper. The pepper is not as strong as in the beginning but still strong.



Halfway I taste coffee with herbs and a lot of pepper and it slowly changes to herbs with pepper after two thirds with some dark chocolate on the background. The aftertaste is black pepper. Some puffs later the flavors change to nuts with pepper.



This cigar lasted me for two hours and ten minutes, which amazed me. The draw is good, just like the burn. I got a lot of thick smoke. The white ash is pretty and firm. This cigar is full flavored and full bodied.



Would I buy this cigar again? Without a doubt

Appearance: 8 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 8 / 10
Aroma second part: 8 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10