Today, we are reviewing the Te Amo The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar in the Robusto size. To me, one of the more exciting stories of 2024 was Altadis USA announcing that it was reintroducing the Te-Amo brand back into the U.S. market. Te-Amo is a brand produced in Mexico created by the Turrent family. For many years, it was one of the most popular cigars in the United States. In particular, I recall growing up in New York City and seeing many Te-Amo branded stores. Eventually, the cigar fell out of favor and became dormant. Altadis USA, which distributes Te-Amo, tried to bring it back in 2012 with the Te-Amo Revolution, but it failed to catch on. Twelve years later, in 2024, Altadis USA decided to see if the time was right to resurrect the brand with the release of Te Amo The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar.

Te-Amo was called “The Cab Driver’s Cigar” in some circles when the brand was at its peak. Being from a family of livery drivers in New York, I can confirm this. It earned this nickname because it was a relatively affordable cigar. Some people have unfairly labeled these old Te-Amo cigars as “cheap.” As Te-Amo’s popularity declined, Mexican tobacco also fell out of favor. Ten to fifteen years ago, manufacturers were hesitant to admit that they were using Mexican tobacco. However, Mexican tobacco is back in style, so perhaps it’s time to reintroduce Te-Amo.

The new Te Amo cigar has a whole new look. The famous bold red Te-Amo logo is gone, replaced by a softer green, white, and gold logo. While it’s no longer an “inexpensive” cigar, the $10.39 to $12.71 SRP makes it quite reasonable.

One final note before we break down this cigar: the cigar is named Te Amo The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar, but the brand name is still Te-Amo (with the hyphen).

Te Amo The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar Robusto – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar is made with 100% Mexican tobaccos sourced from the Turrent family in the San Andres Valley. It features a Habano wrapper, a Negro San Andrés binder, and all Habano fillers. The Turrent family’s factory in Mexico manufactures these cigars.

Wrapper: Habano San Andrés
Binder: Negro San Andrés (Aged Five Years)
Filler: Habano San Andrés
Country of Origin: Mexico
Factory: Nueva Matacapan de Tabacos S.A. de C.V.

Vitolas Offered

The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar is offered in three sizes, each packaged in 20-count boxes.

Robusto: 5 x 54
Toro: 6 x 52
Magnum: 6 x 50

Appearance (*)

The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar not only has softer packaging but is also a softer-looking cigar. The San Andres Habano wrapper has a light to medium rosado hue, which stands out among the typically darker Mexican wrappers, accentuating the softer appearance. The wrapper had a light amount of oil and a silky complexion. While there were some visible veins, any visible wrapper seams were minimal.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

I used a straight cut to remove the cap of The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar. Once the cap was detached, I moved on to the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered baking spice, earth, and dark cherry sweetness notes. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to toast up The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The Te Amo Original San Andrés Valley Cigar Robusto opened with dark cherry, earth, and wood notes. Early on, the dark cherry flavor moved into the forefront, with the earth and wood settling in the background. Additionally, a layer of white pepper was on the retro-hale, with a touch of cherry note mixed in. Later, in the first third, white pepper emerged on the tongue in the background.

The second third of The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar saw the pepper and wood gradually increase in intensity. The pepper notes also took on some black pepper qualities on both the tongue and retro-hale. By midway, the wood notes took over as the sole primary note, displacing the dark cherry. At this point, the pepper was more prominent, and earth notes were still present.

The wood and earth notes continued to increase going into the final third. By this point, pepper made its way into the final third with the wood. Notes of cherry and earth rounded out the flavor profile. This is how The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The Te Amo Original San Andrés Valley Cigar Robusto was prone to some meandering on its burn path along with some jaggedness on the burn. This required several touch-ups to the cigar along the way. The touch-ups did the trick, but I wasn’t pleased that so many were needed. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm but not loose nor flaky. The ash had a salt-and-pepper complexion. The burn temperature was ideal. As for the burn rate, The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar is a slow burner. The average smoking time was 1 hour 44 minutes for the three samples used in this assessment.

Draw

As a positive, the draw of The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar was slightly resistant. At the same time, this cigar produced ample layers of smoke.

Strength and Body

The Original San Andrés Valley Cigar had a consistent medium strength throughout. It started with a medium body, but as it progressed, it became more medium to full-bodied. Initially, the strength and body complemented each other well, but as the body intensified, it overshadowed the strength.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

While I liked the bold logos that once adorned the Te Amo brand, I was still impressed with the softer look of the Original San Andrés Valley Cigar. Not only is it softer, but it also gives the cigar a more premium look.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed the Te Amo Original San Andrés Valley Cigar flavors out of the gate. The dark cherry notes were quite tasty and gave the vitola a distinct flavor I’ve never gotten from a Mexican puro. However, the flavor profile became ordinary as the body and spice built up and the cherry notes receded. The final third was rough and quite muddled. If this cigar performed at the level it did in the first half, it would have scored better. Ultimately, I would recommend trying a sample of the Robusto-size cigar. However, I’m still inclined to try the other sizes someday.

Summary

Key Flavors: Wood, Cherry, Earth, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Minus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Try a Sample
Score: 88

REFERENCES

News: Altadis U.S.A. to Reintroduce Te Amo at TPE 2024
Price: $10.39
Source: Purchased (samples also received from Altadis U.S.A.)
Brand Reference: Te-Amo

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where noted.

An (*) denotes that this factor is not considered in the scoring or valuation.