Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is medium brown with some darker marbling mixed in. There is a network of fine veins and the seams are slightly visible on the smooth wrapper. The torpedo head is finished off with a well applied triple cap. The band appears to be the same one on the original Gaaja. The aromas from the wrapper and foot are both very faint. The wrapper gives some cocoa while the foot gives some leather. The pre-light draw brings a mix of leather and cherry sweetness.

Pre-light Experience

The Bombay Tobak Gaaja Maduro Torpedo has a super smooth and silky dark brown wrapper. Veins are perfectly pressed and seams tight and almost invisible. Bunch and roll feels well executed, as I feel no soft spots and a uniformed give persists throughout the entire cigar. The torpedo head is elegantly wrapped with a thick double cap. Nosing the wrapper tells aged cedar and dry barnyard. Nosing the foot reveals rich toasted nuts and white pepper. Cold draw tells deep white pepper and cedar.

First Third

The flavor dynamics of the initial draws are very interesting. On the draw and the beginning of the exhale, I get cocoa and that quickly shifts to woodiness and then the finish is a mild black pepper. A quarter inch in, the profile settles into a slightly creamy oak with a mild black pepper finish. At a half inch in, the cocoa comes rushing back in and is at an even level with the oak while the mild pepper finish remains. At an inch in, the cocoa fades back and the oak transitions to an aged oak while the black pepper finish has disappeared. At an inch and a quarter, the cocoa increases a slight bit and creates a nice mix with the aged oak. At an inch and three quarters, some wood bitterness joins the cocoa and aged oak. The retrohale is carrying the aged oak profile. As the third comes to a close, the cocoa leaves the aged oak and the wood bitterness causes the profile to be slightly drying. The strength in this third was just below medium.

First Third

First third delivers what I typically come to expect from Bombay Tobak, that is, a balanced profile. Well balanced flavors of cocoa, bread, slightly bitter dry wood and black pepper on the front palate. Inch in, a subtle candied sweetness joins the profile, pairing especially well with the bread note. Through retrohaling, balanced delivery of increased black pepper, bread, sharp cedar and slightly sweetened mixed nuts. The finish lingers with a mixture of black pepper, mixed nuts and bread. Strength is for the most part medium and body at a consistent medium.

Second Third

As the third begins, the aged oak with slightly drying wood bitterness continues. At a half inch in, the wood bitterness decreases a bit making the profile slightly less dry while the aged oak remains up front. At an inch in, the aged oak transitions to an aged general woodiness and a slight baking spice joins in. There is still some wood bitterness in the background. At an inch and a half, the wood bitterness increases to become even with the wood which has lost the aged profile. As the third comes to a close, the bitterness drops slightly which allows the general woodiness to maintain a slight lead. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Second Third

The second third’s profile becomes sharper with namely an interplay of sharper dry wood and mouth layering black pepper. Within the secondary level of flavors, mixed nuts is realized. The subtle candied sweetness is unfortunately gone. The retrohale is still a balanced delivery of increased black pepper, bread, sharp cedar and faintly sweetened mixed nuts. The finish remains unchanged, still providing lingering notes of black pepper, mixed nuts and bread. Strength increases to medium/medium-full while body maintains its medium level.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the profile is a dry wood with slight bitterness in the background. At a quarter inch in, the wood gains a large amount of char and bitterness as the smoke becomes hot. At three quarters of an inch, the heat settles down which reduces the char and bitterness. At an inch and a quarter, some cream joins in with the wood which pushes the bitterness out. This is how the cigar finishes. The strength in this third is just above medium.

Final Third

The last third continuously shows increased sharpness, but at this point, it is no longer balanced. Sharp, course black pepper and sharp, harsh and bitter dry wood are the dominating notes. The retrohale thankfully is still the same, with increased black pepper, bread, sharp cedar and faintly sweetened mixed nuts. The finish is similar to the mouth draw flavors, providing namely sharp, harsh and bitter dry wood. Strength and body is still medium/medium-full and medium, respectively.

Burn

The burn line was quite wavy and I did a touch up a couple of times as the burn line was getting pretty far off. Ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

The only complaint I have about the burn is some portions of the wrapper refusing to burn within the first and last third. But luckily, I never had to resort to my lighter. Ashes held on fairly tight averaging 1.5 inch increments. Burn time was impressive, clocking in at 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Draw

The draw was just slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The first thirds flavors and transitions were very dynamic, so it was a shame that things got pretty one dimensional getting into the second third and the rest of the way. Bitterness also made it’s way into the profile in the second third and never really left. Strength was right around medium, so shouldn’t be a concern for smokers. I really want to smoke another one of these to see if the flavors I got in the first third will continue on which would definitely increase the score. Something that’s worthwhile to check out to see if it fits your profile.

Draw

No real complaints with the draw. Although slightly loose, the cigar never heated up and was effortless.

Overall

The Gaaja Maduro started great with balance and nuance, but unfortunately fell further and further apart as the cigar progressed. This makes me believe the cigar still needs time. I’m perfectly OK with this, as a part of the cigar journey for me is revisiting the cigar at different points of it’s life. But at this moment, it was a middle of the road good/average cigar worth revisiting down the road.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$2.74

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.27

Scoring System

Contest

We are going to make this a pretty simple contest. There are two ways to enter. One way to enter is to share this review out on Facebook and tag Developing Palates and MBombay. The second way to enter is to post this review to Twitter and tag @DevelopPalates and @mbombaycigars

Once you have posted to either or both, make a comment here stating where you posted the review and then we will pick two winners on Thursday, May 4th. One winner will come from Facebook and one winner will come from Twitter.

The prizes are two (2) pairs of Gaaja Maduro Torpedo’s. Each winner will receive a single pair of the cigars.

CONTEST RULES

1. You must be 21 years of age or over (Age verification will be conducted with winners).
2. You must be a resident of the continental United States.
3. Prizes will only be shipped to addresses in the continental United States.
4. Prizes have no cash value.
5. Developing Palates is not responsible for prizes damaged or lost in transit.
6. Occasionally cigars/prizes go missing, get damaged before we ship or other natural disasters occur, we reserve the right to replace a prize winning with something of equal or more value. In the event of replacement, winners will be notified before replacements are shipped.
7. In order to enter the contest you must post that you have tweeted/posted to Facebook in the comment section of this post.
8. Winners must claim prize by emailing info@DevelopingPalates.com within 72 hours of a winner being announced. Winners will be announced via a comment at the designated date for when contests end. It is all participants’ responsibility to determine if they have won. Process must be completed by 11:59PM PST 5/3/17
9. Unless otherwise specified, you can only enter each contest a single time. Multiple entries will be disqualified.
10. All winners for random contests will be chosen randomly. Contests where winners are not selected at random will be specifically noted.
11. Additional rules beyond what is stated on this page will be explicitly stated on contests where additional rules apply.
12. By entering a contest, you accept the terms and conditions stated above.
13. Developing Palates will only ship winner’s cigars if they follow the above steps and email the appropriate e-mail address.
14. Developing Palates reserves the right to change these rules at any time.

Team Cigar Review: Bombay Tobak Gaaja Maduro Torpedo