La Aroma de Cuba Pasión Box-Pressed Torpedo Staff Review
I’m smoking a Box-Pressed Torpedo called La Aroma de Cuba Pasión – a brand new cigar headed to retailers across the country as I write this. If you’re eagerly searching for a sublime new blend to smoke, consider today’s review essential reading. Pasión is blended by the celebrated father-and-son team, Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia and Jaime Garcia, who produce the historic La Aroma de Cuba portfolio in addition to their lauded My Father brand.
“In my home, we only speak tobacco,” explained Jaime Garcia in a 2007 interview with Cigar Aficionado. His quote accurately sums up the family’s obsession with cigar-making, and Pasión pays homage to their muse. It is a cigar created by cigar-makers whose lives are consumed with growing, aging, and blending premium tobaccos. Their dedication and natural instinct culminate in an all-new Nicaraguan Puro finished in a rare and beautiful Shade Grown wrapper leaf.
More than ten years ago, the Garcias discovered the unique microclimate in Namanji, a region in Nicaragua 18 miles east of Estelí. A winding river feeds a basin blessed with sunny afternoons, cool nights, and bountiful black soils perfect for growing fine tobacco. The Garcias bought land and began planting and harvesting crops in what is now a private 300-acre estate. Special plots reserved for Shade Grown wrapper occupy more than one third of the acreage today. Pasión is finished in this special leaf, which beams with an oily chestnut-hued sheen as I turn it over in my hand. Beneath it, aged reserves of premium tobaccos cultivated on Garcia family estates in Estelí and Jalapa fill out Pasión in six classic sizes.
La Aroma de Cuba Pasión is packaged in porcelain-white boxes with posh gold lettering across the top. Elegant mint cigar bands display the iconic La Aroma de Cuba maiden flanked by lush tobacco fields with intricate detail on each cigar. Pasión entices mercilessly with its luxurious appearance and silky aromas of cedar and smoked nuts emanating from the unlit foot. A shallow cut to the cap is enough for succulent streams of nougat and spice to flow through a series of cold draws as I twist the pointy, box-pressed specimen precisely between my lips.
Pasión lights up with ease and exactness as a healthy, even flame engulfs the foot. Notes of black pepper, molasses, and leather graze the palate in steady, satisfying proportions. Bulbs of creamy white smoke fill the room with epicurean aroma. Pasión harbors a hearty zest in the nose. Its velvety texture and nutty taste make it seem less intense than it actually is. A strong and steady ash develops as the flavor concentrates in the Torpedo’s 6.125 x 54 dimensions.
Notes of cedar, smoked cashew, and leather converge with sharp spices after thirty minutes. The middle portion of Pasión is complex and chewy. Hints of coffee bean and molasses enter a savory crescendo as the spices resonate with more authority. Tangy notes of nougat and nuts arouse the nub as I draw at a slower frequency to fully relish the final moments of Pasión. Its lingering finish transfixes the taste buds. I suggest sipping a premium scotch from Macallan or Balvenie with Pasión. A thoughtful pairing promises to amaze. Pasión is a peerless Puro worthy of a top rating in my book, especially considering its $9 to $12 price point.
Garcia family patriarch Pepin Garcia began rolling cigars in Cuba at the age of eleven and went on to manage production for many coveted Cuban brands before achieving his greatest success with the cigars he makes today. Savor his influence as one of the world’s leading cigar-makers in his latest masterpiece – La Aroma de Cuba Pasión – as soon as you can get your hands on one.
