Thursday, February 19, 2015

Latitude Zero (torpedo)

I haven't seen this cigar in stores, however while purchasing a gift for someone on cbid, I couldn't pass up the chance to try one of these for just a couple of bucks.  While many of us know about Oliva Tobacco Company, others still don't realize that they are unrelated to Oliva Cigar Company.  This cigar comes from the former - Oliva Tobacco Company - and it claims that the tobacco used is only the top 1% of all their tobacco.  The Oliva Tobacco Company supplies tobacco to ultra-premium brands, and from what I've heard, has their tobacco in most of the quality cigars available today. 

I let this one sit in my humidor for around 6 months.  I maintain a 65/65 setting in my humidors, so I was surprised to have this cigar fall apart on me practically from the get-go.  To further disappoint, especially after reading many positive reviews, I found that the tobacco was nothing special.  It's a shame that I only had one to smoke, because it's not a great idea to base an opinion off of a single experience, but the one Latitude I tried was a far cry from what I had expected.

The cigar band was comprised of two bands.  In order to smoke the cigar, I had to remove them both.  The bottom one is the larger of the two, and is a foil map.  The top label (closer to a normal size) has a slit in the middle, where you can see through to the foil map, focusing on, yep, you guessed it: Latitude Zero.

I tend to use my V-cutter for torpedos.  I torched the foot, and got ready to enjoy the top 1% that Oliva Tobacco has to offer.

1/3: Things start of pleasantly.  It went downhill from here.  I noticed a small crack in the wrapper.  It was more of an annoyance when it brushed up against my lip.  I picked up some mild spice through the nose.  Medium-bodied at this point.  Before I am even halfway through the 1st third, the wrapper began to fall apart.  

2/3: By this time, I've had to remove the wrapper entirely.  It looked ugly.  So, here I am smoking the cigar with the binder fully exposed, and no wrapper, which obviously impacts the flavor and the experience.  Some Vitamin N is noticeable (nicotine), although due to being recently sick with pneumonia, I've not smoked many cigars lately, so my tolerance may be a factor here.  

3/3: I didn't get far into the final third before laying this stick down.  The aftertaste was decent, but I was just underwhelmed by the lack of complexity, flavor, and the poor construction.  

I would be willing to try this one again sometime, but the bottom line is that I was very disappointed in this smoke.

 
Size: 6.5 x 52
Wrapper: Habano Ecuador (R13E grade aka Angel’s Cut)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua (Vintage 2010)
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