Cigar Weekly

Picos mini torpedos

Published Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
Compiled by Steve Kang (debaire)

Made by Tabacos de la Cordillera. Picos mini-torpedos are hand made with the same 100% long filler tobaccos, grown from pre-Castro Cuban seeds. They are available in two wrapper shades and strengths.

Picos Natural (Light) Wrapper

Body: Medium

Flavor profile: Spicy

Wrapper: Habano #62 or #91

Binder: Habano #235

Filler: Habanos #34, #235

Mini-Torpedo (4" x 32)

Pre-Smoke Comments

ÞShadow: A very petite 4 X 32 mini belicoso with a EMS wrapper. Very well constructed with a nice aroma. Pre-light draw was very good. Burn was good with no corrections needed.

Mustard: A perfectly constructed mini torpedo.

Lang Daddy: Neat little cigar. Its aroma is mild and pleasant.

Briandg: What a fine looking little smoke! smoothly rolled, nice wrapper, clean lines, this is not a cheap tinned short filler smoke. Well made, drew well, very nice pre-light flavor and aroma. It is as good as it can get, I think.

SmokinAFuente: The pre light draw was very loose and little flavor or aroma was noticed.

Augie754: This cigar was a mini-torpedo. It had a nice smooth natural wrapper with any big veins. It was a little spongy when you squeezed it. The pre-light draw was just about right, but had little flavor. After lighting these cigars, they had plenty of smoke and burnt straight with a good draw. The ash was pretty solid for such a small gauge cigar.

Peterg: This cigar was a tiny belicoso, about 4 inches long. The wrapper had an unusual texture, but it was very smooth with no noticible veins.

Smoke Comments

ÞShadow: Very light flavors at first that built up some after the first inch, almost a nutty flavor. Aftertaste was very light.

Mustard: A rather bland cigar.

Lang Daddy: This cigar lighted nicely with a toasty, light taste to start. It tastes maybe honduran or like a criollo. Burn is even with a dark gray ash that seems to hold on for a long time. Cigar remains toasty and a bit nutty with maybe a hint of burnt wood taste. Pleasant flavor, but one dimentional. Finish was exactly like the start, no tar and no flavor change. Easy draw on both samples and both identical two one another. No bad aftertaste either.

Briandg: This was not the more typical connecticut shade, with a creamy, sweet and mild smoke, it was more robust. It had a nice, earthy, kind of musky, barnyard type of aroma and flavor. Straw, leaves, grass, grain... It had a nice finish, no harshness or bite, and all the way to the nub, it remained a nice, smooth tasting smoke. It took damned fine tobacco to get all of this into a small format like this. It reminded of ERDM. I smoked a Cafe au lait to refresh my memory, and yes, it was similar. However, the mini torp was smoother, more flavorful, had better aroma, and was overall a much better smoke. It lasted about twenty minutes, the ash was fine and black, the smoke was dense and rich, with a multilayered flavor that really held my interest. I was left with the feeling that I had just had a truly fine cigar. I enjoyed them.

SmokinAFuente: Just when I thought this stick couldn't get any more peppery, it would kick up the pepper even more! The smoke was light in volume and the ash as semi-firm (odd for how fast this burnt), gray and very wavy.

Augie754: These cigars were mild to medium bodied with medium flavor. The flavor was semi sweet with hints of cedar. It has a nice light flavor throughout while increasing in strength slightly. This might be nice for a early morning 20 minute smoke. Although it had a nice flavor it didn't leave me wanting more.

Peterg: This cigar was quite enjoyable for me. It had some nice nuttly flavors with a certain sweet spicyness, almost akin to a cameroon wrapped cigar. The ash was slightly flaky, but did not detract from the enjoyment of this cigar.

Summary Comments

ÞShadow: Not a size cigar I normally smoke, but I enjoyed it. Wished it was a little longer and a larger ring gauge

Mustard: A perfectly constructed cigar. Unfortunately, this is where it ends.Short in stature and Short in taste and flavor.

Lang Daddy: Not a bad little smoke for a quick fix. Very pleasant and mild. A bit one dimentional, but no real complaint with it. Mild/moderate in strength. Toasty and woody throughout.

Briandg: I have to give it a nine. This was as good as a short smoke can get in many ways. Construction and appearance were 100%. Sure, the flavor and aroma could be improved on, and it would rate above a 9, but I think that it was a great cigar as is. I sat and smoked it, and from beginning to end, I was impressed with the complexity of the flavor and aroma, the broad sensations that I got from it.

I guess that in a nutshell, cigars of this size are usually throwaways that a person burns under an awning or in his car. Something that you smoke bacause you don't want to waste something good. This one seemed to surpass that, and go on to being something that you would smoke by choice.

SmokinAFuente: This was a fun little smoke that only lasted for about 20 minutes or so.

Augie754: Overall, I can't find too many bad things to say about this smoke. Although it was a little underwhelming for me, I can see how many would like this mild-medium smoke. For me I would just prefer a little more punch with more complexity in flavor.

Peterg: While this is not a "classic" cigar, it was overall very good. Had enjoyable flavors, passable construction, and a fairly long finish.

Scores

Review Results

Final Score: 35.00 out of 50 - 4 Stars -- Excellent