Man O’ War Torpedo

By Daniel T. | May 11, 2010

The Man O War line is the brain child of the Cuban born Abdel “AJ” Fernandez. AJ is now living in Nicaragua but used to work under the supervision of Cuban cigar master, Alejandro Robaina. After moving to Nicaragua, AJ began making his own line of cigars as well as blending for other companies. Some of the names that have hs touch on them include Padilla, Rocky Patel, Diesel, Sol Cubano, Nica Libre, La Herencia Cubana and many others.

The Cuban-seed long filler of this cigar matched with the aged Habano wrapper offers a delicate balance of complexity and boldness to challenge your palate. The wrapper is aged a minimum of three years and is taken from the ‘viso’ of the tobacco plant, the middle section which offers the richest and oiliest consistencies.

The Man O War line comes in a total of 5 sizes, Corona, Double Corona, Robusto, Toro, and the size being reviewed now, the Torpedo. The wrapper in particular caught my eye with the Spartan style face mask and swords. I was a big fan of the movie 300 and the band reminded me of that movie. Will this cigar live up to something King Leonidas would smoke? Let’s find out…

Cigar: Man O War (Original Blend)
Drink: Grahams 2003 Late Bottled Vintage Tawny Port
Vitola: Torpedo (6.5 x 52)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: Gift by @cigarsthomas (About $8-$10 online)
Burn Time: 1.75 Hours

Construction:
• Evenly constructed all around
• No major veins
• Clean tapered triple cap
• Nice medium brown colored wrapper, no oiliness to it
• Foot looks well packed
• Mostly even firmness with a slight spring, a small part near the foot is quite hard
• Wrapper near foot of cigar got a little damage from transit
• Cut was very clean and easy
• Draw is good but could be a bit tighter
• A half inch crack formed near the head after the halfway mark

Burn:
• Toasting was slow and even without problems
• Initial burn has been a bit wavy but considering the damage on the foot it is burning quite well
• Burn is still wavy approaching the end, it has corrected itself of any problems without any help
• Staying lit without the need for extra draws
• Went out twice in the last inch or so and got really harsh so I set it to rest a bit early

Smoke & Ash:
• Good mouthful of smoke on each draw
• Moderate amount of resting smoke giving off a nice cedar aroma
• Medium gray ash
• Not much flaking and seems very strong
• Ash fell off at about 1 inch most times

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper has a slightly earthy aroma to it, very light
• Foot is earthy and woody with a hint of nutmeg
• Pre-light draw has strong cedar notes with hints of nutmeg and a little bit of spice
• Initial draws taste of cedar mostly with an earthy finish
• Retrohale is fairly mild with a light cedar finish
• About an inch in I’m starting to get a slightly peppery after-taste
• Body has been in the mild-medium range
• Nearing half-way mark, the cedar and earthy notes have calmed down and the peppery flavors are coming through
• Some leathery and light coffee notes also creeping in
• Retrohale has some bite to it now past the halfway mark, leathery flavor on the finish
• Most flavors have been replaced by leather and spice as I get into the last two inches
• Some harshness creeping in around the last inch

Final Thoughts:
This was a good cigar, had a variety of flavors and a bit of dimension to it. I didn’t find it to be as complex as it claimed and not as strong as I expected either. When you take price into consideration my opinion of the cigar declines a bit. I didn’t find this to be a $10 cigar, or probably more in some states depending on taxes. I think there are better cigars in this price range. If I can find these for a good price I’d probably pick up a few and would recommend the same to anyone else.

Pairings:
As you may know from reading some of my reviews, LBV Tawny Port is one of my favorite pairings. It matches better with some cigars than with others but I think it was a great match for this cigar in particular. The reason is that the spiciness and boldness of the cigar went perfectly with the full-bodied sweetness of the port. Other pairings that should go perfectly would be sweet tea, scotch, cognac or diet soda. Look for something that will slightly counter-balance the peppery notes. Anything too mild may get drowned out by the cigars flavors.