Sosa Vintage Piramide #2

In the Taguasco region of Cuba, Juan Sosa was a small tobacco farmer around the turn of the 20th century. By the 1920’s, Mr. Sosa’s farm was one of the largest tobacco producing estates in Cuba. Mr. Sosa’s son Arturo and grandson Juan started manufacturing cigars for retail in Cuba and abroad, but the family left the island due to political unrest. Mr. Sosa spent several years looking for soils as rich as those in Cuba to restart his tobacco and cigar business and eventually settled in an area near Santiago, Dominican Republic. Once there he set up his factory in his new home and then operations in Miami, Florida. Today, his grandson Juan, along with his family, continues the legacy of handcrafting traditional Cuban cigars. The Sosa Vintage is a very special cigar that uses 8-year-aged Dominican ligero long-fillers bound in a Nicaraguan long leaf and all wrapped up with a special dark Connecticut wrapper. Add all this together and you get a bold and full flavored experience. However, despite the complex nature of this cigar, the smoke itself is tame and smooth, creating a mild-medium smoke due to the extensive post-roll aging. When smoking this cigar, you will find it rich in flavor with sweet tobacco notes backed by cedar and pepper accompanied by an even burn with an excellent draw. We found that a nice glass of cool chardonnay was the perfect accompaniment for this cigar.

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.