Valentia Torpedo – Cigar Review

So here I relax in my Gar Cave again on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I was thinking of what to smoke and decided on the Valentia Torpedo.

A little background on the Valentia Cigar Company:

Valentia is a new boutique cigar company (founded in 2013)  based out of Farmingdale NY on Long Island. I met the owners at the IPCPR in Vegas this year and also reconnected with Mathew Buck, Valentia Cigar’s Business Development Manager last month at the Huntington Humidor in Long Island, NY. Prior to getting into cigars these young cats owned and still operate a gun and leather company, The Mako Group, that sells unique weapon accessories, combat optics, and holsters to Special Forces units, military, law enforcement agencies, SWAT teams and security organizations.  So cigars were the next evolution for them. The Valentia Cigar company went one step further created a link between The Mako Group and Valentia Cigars known as “Valentia Assistance for Law Enforcement”  or VALE. This program provides a participating  law enforcement agency with a credit every time a retail shop orders Valentia cigars.

I am very pleased to be responsible for coordinating the VALE program so that Law Enforcement agencies get the maximum possible benefit. – Matthew Buck

Valentia means strength or bravery and these guys are committed to it.

The 52×6 Valentia torpedo is one of 4 vitolas in the original Valentia line. The company has also added two new blends; the San Andrés and the Lucia. Now just because they are young and new to the business does not mean they don’t understand cigars. The Valentia Torpedo, like it’s sister vitolas, is made in the Dominican Republic and  is constructed from a delightfully unique blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler bound with an Indonesian binder and wrapped with a gorgeous Ecuadorian-Connecticut wrapper.

The construction is flawless with no seams and a vein-less light tan wrapper. There are no soft spots and it is clear this is a well packed cigar. The band prominently displays a golden winged “V” and  is further adorned  with a cannon and cannon balls with bayonets  shooting out from the sides. It is a bold band for sure and certainly represents the boldness of the company.

 

The barrel and foot had a distinct  barnyard aroma. Clipping the head I was greeted with a wide open draw that was slightly musty and salty.

Firing it up I was hit with a tongue tingling citrus that lasted through most of the first third. The smoke was full and the draw was perfect. The burn line was clean and sharp without wave and there was a light grey ash that held on for a good inch and half. The wrapper showed some oily sheen as it heated up.

Moving into the second third the citrus morphed into a pleasurable semi sweet grapefruit flavor.  So far the Valentia Torpedo is a mild  body smoke, good for any new smoker but will delight even the experienced of smokers.

Approaching the final third the Valentia Torpedo offers some hints of nuts and there is a touch of pepper on the retro hale The strength did pick up a notch. The nut is easily detected in the aroma of the foot.The final burn was highlighted with notes of cedar and wood.

Cigars provided for this review were provided by Valentia Cigars.