Bahia Connecticut Deluxe Torpedo

Tony Borhani, founder of Bahia cigars, takes his business seriously. In a personal quest for stogie knowledge, he spent three years exploring cigar territory in Central and South America. He met growers, rollers and master blenders, studying their methods and styles. To this day, he constantly combines his knowledge of traditional production techniques with new ideas and secret methods that extend the art of processing, curing, aging and rolling our favorite aromatic leaf. Tobacco used for all Bahia cigars is grown at the best plantations in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador, and processed under the control, supervision and demanding methods of Tony Borhani and Don Douglas. The Bahia Connecticut Deluxe is a prime example of such standards. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, this stogie features a golden brown Ecuador-grown Connecticut wrapper, a Honduran binder, and ‘Cuban-sandwich’ style Dominican fillers. For those unfamiliar with that blending technique, it mostly involves using a short filler rolled inside longer filler leaves. This mild smoke lends tasty notes of cream, cedar, and a slight spice, perfect for anytime of day. Our panel recommended pairing it with a pinot grigio.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.