Sosa Limitado

Prior to the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show, Sosa Cigars announced a new limited cigar offering called the Sosa Limitado. This is a cigar blended by Arby Sosa and made at the Puros Indios factory in Miami Florida.  The Sosa Limitado is a limited production cigar.  There are only 800 cigars (80 boxes of ten) being produced.  The cigar is being made by a single roller at the factory.  It is also being produced in a single size – a 7 x 54 vitola known as the Stoudt Torpedo. Recently, I had an opportunity to smoke the Sosa Limitado Stout Torpedo.  I found this to be an excellent release that made for an enjoyable cigar experience.

From a 2011 press release from Sosa’s parent company (unrelated to the Sosa Limitado), Antillian Cigar Company, here is some background on the Sosa brand:


The Sosa cigar tradition began with Don Juan Sosa, a small tobacco grower in the fertile Taguasco region of Cuba at the turn of the century. By the 1920’s, his farm had become one of the largest tobacco-producing haciendas in Cuba. Over the next 30 years, Don Juan’s son, Arturo, and grandson, Juan, manufactured cigars for sale in Cuba and abroad. Juan B. Sosa moved the operation to the Dominican Republic in the 1960’s where the family re-established their factory along with operations in Miami, Florida. Today, the legacy of quality, handmade cigars made in the Cuban tradition continues with master blender, Juan B. Sosa, alongside his wife, sons and nephews. 


Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Sosa Limitado Stout Torpedo and see what this cigar  is all about.

Blend Profile

The Sosa Limitado is listed as having tobaccos from three countries:


Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: Indonesian Sumatran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican


Vitolas Available


As mentioned the Sosa Limitado Stout Torpedo has been launched in one vitola – 7 x 54 torpedo. As mentioned the cigars are packaged ten per box.

Sosa Limitado Packaging (Source – Sosa Newsletter July 2013)

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

The wrapper to the Sosa Limitado is best described as being a coffee bean color with some colorado red mixed into the color scheme.  There was a slight amount of oil on the surface of the wrapper, but not enough where I’d consider this an oily wrapper.  There are several visible veins and several visible wrapper seams.

Sosa Limitado Stout Torpedo – Sheath covering removed

In lieu of a band, there is more of a sheath that covers almost two thirds of the cigar from the footer up.  The sheath has an art deco blue color to it with gold trim on the top and bottom.  On the front of the sheath is the text “SOSA” that literally can be used as a stencil.  In fact the text is cut out so you can literally see the wrapper through each letter.  On the far right is the text “MIAMI FL” and on the far left is the text “LIMITADO” both in gold font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Sosa Limitado, the first thing I did was to slide the sheath off of the cigar.  The sheath slid off nice and easily without causing any danger to tearing the wrapper.  The next step was to clip the tip of the torpedo and move on to the pre-light draw phase.  The Sosa Limitado provided a mix of coffee, dried fruit, and cedar on the cold draw.  Overall I was satisfied with the pre-light draw.  At this point I was now ready to light up my Sosa Limitado and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The Sosa Limitado started out with a mix of oak notes and some cedar spice.  The oak notes moved to the forefront early on while the cedar spice moved to the background.  Some light dried fruit notes also emerged in the background providing some sweetness.  On the retro-hale, I detected more of a classic pepper spice note.  By about the five percent mark, the oak notes morphed into more of a coffee flavor while the cedar spice and dried fruit notes remained in the background.

By the midway point, the combination of the cedar spice and dried fruit were the primary flavors. The coffee notes had now transitioned into the background.  As the smoking experience moved to the second half, a smoky taste emerged with the spice and dried fruit.  The spice was now more of a pepper spice and the coffee notes were much more distant in the background.  This is the way the flavor profile held until the end.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the Sosa Limitado to be a well constructed cigar – and one that scores nicely in a long torpedo format.  The burn line remained relatively straight from start to finish.  It did require some touch-ups along the way, but not an abnormal amount.  The resulting ash tended to be firmer in the first half, but was a little more prone to flaking in the second half.  The ash was mostly white in color with some dark streaks. The burn temperature was ideal.  I did find this cigar smoked quicker than most 7″ length cigars, but this had no adverse effects on the smoking experience.

Burn of the Sosa Limitado

The draw was excellent.  I found the Sosa Limitado drew easy and was not too tight and not too loose. The torpedo tip was well constructed as it was not prone to getting soft as I drew on the cigar.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I found the Sosa Limitado to fall in the medium to full range – something I consider the sweet spot.  As for the depth of the flavors, I assessed them to be in the medium-bodied range to start.  By the second half, the weight of the flavors on the pallet increased and they moved into the medium to full-bodied range.  The Sosa Limitado had a pretty good balance between strength and body.  I would say there is an advantage of strength over body to start, but as the flavors develop the two attributes move on par with each other.

Final Thoughts

Overall I found the Sosa Limitado to be a very good cigar.  I delivered some nice flavors, and some of the smoky notes in the second half were nice.  I am curious to see how this would smoke in a parejo format.  While the torpedo is never my first choice for a vitola, the Sosa Limitado performed nicely in that frontmark.  This is the kind of cigar I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast.  While it wouldn’t be my first choice for the novice, I certainly wouldn’t discourage one from trying.  As for myself, this is a cigar I will smoke again – and it’s definitely worth a five pack.

Summary

Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.0 – The Fiver
Score: 89

References

Price: $15.00
Source: Samples provided by Manufacturer (*)