My Father La Gran Oferta Torpedo Staff Review
As is the tradition with numerous My Father cigars, acclaimed father-and-son cigar-makers Pepin and Jaime Garcia resurrected an old-world brand when they released La Gran Oferta, which translates to “the great offer,” in 2018, and today I’m smoking a succulent Torpedo that’s just over 6 inches long with a 52 ring gauge.
My Father La Gran Oferta is handcrafted in Estelí, Nicaragua, where the Garcia family owns and operates a modern, impressive cigar factory, home to several prominent brands, including La Aroma de Cuba, San Cristobal, and Tatuaje. The Garcias also produce the 97-rated My Father Le Bijou 1922 and the 96-rated Flor de las Antillas, both of which earned Cigar Aficionado’s prestigious ‘#1 Cigar of the Year’ honors. La Gran Oferta fits into the family’s portfolio seamlessly and is handmade in five popular sizes. The cigars are packaged in classy 20-count cedar boxes adorned with an ornate My Father logo on the front and a colorful depiction of four maidens flanked by gold medallions on the inside of the lid, which is based on artwork from the original brand, dating back to the early 1900s.
Each cigar is finished in a pair of pink-and-gold cigar bands with a bright-blue ribbon over the foot. La Gran Oferta is blended from an abundant interior of Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos covered by a dark and attractive Cuban-seed wrapper cultivated in Ecuador. The cigar gleams with oil thanks to its naturally lustrous complexion. Bold aromas of earth and wood offer a formidable preview from the unlit foot of the cigar, while hints of chocolate and cedar fill out the cold draw after I clip the cap and test the airflow with a few cold puffs. Loads of flavor pass through the cigar’s relatively dense silhouette – a sign of a well-made Torpedo.
La Gran Oferta displays marvelous hallmarks of premium Garcia family cigar-making, and many aficionados consider the blend an excellent value in the $7 to $10 price range. Its medium to full-bodied profile is less intense than Le Bijou 1922 but a touch stronger than Flor de las Antillas. As soon as I toast the foot, peppery streams of smoke swivel into the air, eliciting a quick nose twitch before its leathery taste settles across the palate with greater equanimity.
Like many of the potent cigars the Gracias are known for, spice is a substantial component in the overall taste. But this sweet and oily smoke imparts notes of black cherry and dark chocolate with a toasty and malty finish for balance. A woody backbone carries a plethora of almond and caramel notes as the cigar unfolds with more depth throughout the middle. I tap a stiffly lingering ash off for only the third time after roughly thirty minutes of smoking. Without question, La Gran Oferta is well made and emblematic of the highest-rated cigars the Garcias make.
I decide to sip an espresso with the second half of the cigar as its flavor shifts with an agile concentration of spicy, toasty, and leathery texture. Despite its fullness, La Gran Oferta maintains a velvety quality you’ll only taste from tobaccos that are aged and fermented for long periods of time. Pepin and Jaime store immense reserves of the tobacco that goes into their cigars, and they wait for years for it to mature, rotating the pilons in their warehouses until perfect flavor is achieved. You can tell because their cigars are strong but approachable.
Notes of dark chocolate and pepper reign supreme after I shed the band from the cigar and prepare to traverse the sharpest portion of the Torpedo for as long as I can pinch the nub between my fingers. Fifty-five minutes have passed, and I’m in no rush to get to the end as a savory burst of black cherry enlivens the final stretch. The last puffs exude Pepin’s trademark spice before I part ways with the cigar with around an inch that’s too hot to hold left to go.
If you’re a fan of My Father, Pepin Garcia, or the best Nicaraguan cigars, La Gran Oferta belongs on your shopping list. I’m awarding it 92 points for its quality, complexity, and price. It’s not a beginner cigar, but it is a hidden gem when compared to other cigars in the Garcias’ growing catalog. Smoke it beside four other bestsellers, including the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial and the Don Pepin Garcia Original in the My Father Fresh Pack Sampler #2, and taste it against a few of the blends that put this famous father-and-son duo on the map years ago.
