The Particulars

The Review

This review for the J.C. Newman LeRoy Neiman 2025 Collectors Edition - Torpedo (6.25 x 52) is based on the journal entry dated 2026-07-07

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

This is just a stunning-looking cigar all around, but let’s start with the wrapper. The Rosado Ecuadorian Habano leaf is a warm, tannish brown with the requisite reddish hues, but with a sheen that makes it look like it’s been polished. It has good mottling, thin to nearly non-existent veins, and a very light tooth. The seams are tight, the roll is beautiful, and it has a great firmness—it’s just so well done. And that’s before we even talk about the bands. I usually decry having large and/or multiple bands, especially when they cover up a beautiful wrapper like this. But the space here is dedicated to showing LeRoy Neiman’s “Jazz Horns” painting, and it’s beautifully reproduced. It gets a rare pass from me. The back side of each band also includes additional messaging.​

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Average (2) / Great (4)

The draw is a hair tight but loosens up nicely as the cigar warms up. The burn is just beautiful to start. A dead-even, crisp burn line, like a jazz drummer locked into a tight rhythm. It shows up in the light gray ash as well, featuring super tightly spaced striations. That burn just stacks, holding nearly to the midway point.  It’s beautiful—much like the fine art this cigar honors.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Great (4)

Immediate cedar woodiness leads off, followed by hints of coffee and a strong earthy base with a dash of baking spice. In the first inch, additional flavors start to slowly rise up: toasted breadiness, coffee evolving into a creamier espresso, and black pepper starting to crescendo. I’m getting the faint taste of peanut shells and a slight citrus sweetness. It’s somewhere between lemon and orange, but not overly strong. Complexity is on the rise as a slight barnyard quality joins the strong earth note, while baking cocoa and nuttiness swirl with the espresso to become a powdery mocha that heads right into the creamy finish. There’s a fairly thick and chewy vibe to this cigar as a dark, earthy breadiness overtakes the cedar as the driving note. But the rest of the flavors remain in supporting roles that are incredibly well-balanced.

The second third increases the thick mocha notes—that delightful mix of creamy espresso and dark baking cocoa—alongside a mix of baking spice and mild black pepper, all sitting on top of that dark, earthy, bready base. Sometimes it’s more molasses, sometimes it’s more sourdough. There’s a slight anise flavor that creeps in from time to time, and the black pepper is building to a solid medium. Overall, the blend is very smooth and nicely balanced with great complexity.

The final third continues the swelling intensity, but with no real changes or transitions. The black pepper intensity brings more sharpness and a slight mineral note, which reduces the overall smoothness of the blend. Creaminess is pulling back as the espresso reverts to black coffee with stronger levels of anise and natural bitter notes. The earthy breadiness is also pulling back, replaced with more leathery notes as the profile becomes noticeably drier. It’s a slightly disappointing way to end the experience because the first two-thirds were much more enjoyable, but it remains a very good blend overall!

Overall Experience (0-5):  Excellent (5)

What I really enjoyed about this cigar is that it’s both complex and approachable. I think this is a good cigar for both beginners and more experienced smokers who appreciate a nuanced blend. It’s not overpowering, but it brings enough flavor to stay interesting from start to finish. My only disappointment is that it didn’t keep that excellent profile it started with all the way to the nub, but it’s one I’ll be looking forward to revisiting in future releases as they change up the vitola.

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.