Initial Thoughts
Well this is the first post in a long, long time. So it could be a little rough, but I’ll try to do my best here. I was gifted about five of these 5 Vegas Gold Torpedoes. They have been sitting in my humidor for probably over a year and I figured it was time to smoke them. I couldn’t find much information on them. I consistently see them showing up on Cigars International, so I’m assuming they are a private label for CI? After looking at a couple of sources that appears to be the truth.
After that initial research I went to the source to find out information about this 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo. According to CI’s website this cigar has an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and the filler leaf is aged 5 years and made in Honduras. Not much information on the filler leaf of the makeup of the profile. I’m not surprised at that though, a lot of brands are holding their blends closer to the chest now a days. That’s about all the info that I have on the background of the cigar, so let’s dive right in and see light this thing up.
Looks
This 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo is a great looking cigar, it’s 6″ x 54. So it’s a rather large cigar which is always fun and time consuming to smoke. The band on this guy is pretty large and it’s obviously gold in case you haven’t noticed by now. It’s hard to make out what all is on the band. I can see a few notations, but make them out with my impeccable lighting set up in my garage. I know you’re probably thinking, why don’t you just take the band inside and see what it says. B/c honestly, that would be way too easy. So you’ll just have to stay in suspense for right now.
The Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper looks great, I can’t notice any seams on the wrapper from the foot to the head. I do notice a few small imperfections towards the head of the cigar. Nothing that I’m super worried about right now. It looks great, now it’s time to snip the cap and take it for a test drive.
Function
Most of you know by now that when I come across a torpedo shaped cigar like this 5 Vegas Gold that I cut the head at an angle. I believe that it helps increase the draw from the barrel. This cigar is no different. The draw is light and airy on this one. Those small imperfections towards the head of the cigar allow a bit of air to escape the wrapper before I cut it, but not affecting it too much.
The filler is firm with a bit of bounce back to it. The airflow is great, so I’m ready to light this thing up and see what sort of flavors it provides to me.
Smoking
This 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo instantly takes to the flame providing a nice bellow of smoke after the first few puffs. I always worry if cigars that have been sitting in my humidor for over a year will burn correctly I’m wondering if they get too wet or not, but this one lets me know that my humidor is doing just fine.
Lots of smoke rolls off this stick. The total smoking time was around 2 hours. I was slow smoking it thought while reading. Your mileage may vary. I never had an issue with this cigar burning incorrectly, it was a nice straight burn the entire time. I never got the ash over an inch and a half though. Of course I dropped the biggest ash on my shirt and consequently onto the floor. So it’s good to know that I haven’t lost my touch there.
There were a few times that I had to purge this cigar and burn out some of that tar build up. Then it was burning clean once again. That was the only issue I had the entire time while smoking this guy.
Flavor
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo with regards to flavor. I knew it had a light wrapper and once I started cold-drawing on it I wasn’t picking up much in terms of intensity. The story didn’t change much once I got it lit. This cigar stayed a consistent light body throughout the entire 2 hours. It reminded me a bit of the Macanudo Cafe Crystal.
I honestly smoked this thing for two hours and couldn’t pick up much difference from the 1st third to the final third. It started light with some subtle leather and woody notes. Once it got lit there hints of cereal and toast throughout. Then finally just some very small hints of spice. Nothing overpowering, just very consistent and light flavors. Which can be great depending on your palate. I go back and forth between intensities of flavors and I was hoping for a bit more in terms of flavor and intensity, but this was a pleasant surprise.
Would I Buy It Again?
Possibly, I wasn’t blown away, but I also think that I was expecting something different.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
It could be, probably not for me because I typically have a bourbon in my hand when I smoke and this 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo would not stand up against a bourbon.
Would I Buy a Box?
Probably not unless I smoke a few more and some more complex flavors pop out at me.
Conclusion
I don’t think this 5 Vegas Gold Torpedo is going to become a regular staple in my humidor any time soon. It’s just not quite up my alley in terms of flavor profiles. However, it was a very pleasant cigar to smoke and I enjoyed it. So I encourage anyone who prefers a lighter flavor profile to try this. They are incredibly affordable on CI’s website. So pick up a 5 pack for $20 and you may have found your new budget cigar!
