Graycliff G2 Habano Pirate Torpedo

The Graycliff G2 line was developed as a more approachable extension of a name best known for luxury cigars. The G2 Habano turns up the intensity by adding a lively Habano wrapper, giving smokers a richer taste of the Graycliff style at a considerably more everyday-friendly price. The Pirate is a slow-burning 6 x 52 Torpedo that showcases the blend particularly well. Handmade in Nicaragua, it features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan long-fillers. Medium to full-bodied, the cigar serves up plenty of spice and pepper alongside cedar, earth, and cream. The tapered Torpedo head helps concentrate those flavors, while the creamy component prevents its earth and pepper from becoming overly aggressive. Pour a Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon alongside it. The bourbon’s caramel, vanilla, oak, and baking-spice character works naturally with the cigar’s cedar and pepper, while its underlying sweetness contrasts nicely with the earthy Nicaraguan tobacco. Together they make a rich but nicely balanced after-dinner combination—sophisticated enough for a special occasion, but relaxed enough for an ordinary evening on the patio.

The Nicaraguan cigar industry originated when Cuban cigar makers escaped the revolution and re-established their livelihood in Nicaragua with Cuban-seed tobacco. Blessed with dark, rich soil, their new home was ideal for tobacco cultivation and Nicaragua quickly became known for cigars that rivaled Cuban quality. Unfortunately, revolution and war came to Nicaragua in the 1980s and devastated the industry, but it’s rebounded dramatically and is once again producing tobacco considered by many to be the finest in the world.

The Esteli Valley is in many ways the heart of Nicaraguan production and is known for its very powerful and spicy tobacco. The Jalapa Valley produces arguably the finest tobacco in the country: somewhat sweeter and less intense than Esteli, but extremely complex. The tobacco of the Condega Valley is often described as a blend of the other two regions.