Cigar Review: El Tiante Habano Oscuro Pyramid

Cuban-born baseball legend Luis Tiant, known to many simply as “El Tiante,” launched his own line of cigars in 2007, around the time of the 25th anniversary of his final major league game. Now, the man who many call one of the best big game pitchers of all time is reinventing his cigar company with his son, Daniel.

Daniel Tiant serves as president and CEO of the newly renamed Tiant Cigar Group. He recently unveiled the two new blends that serve as the cornerstone of the company’s reintroduction: Habano Oscuro and Habano Rosado. Each is made at Don Pepin’s My Father Cigars Factory with Ecuadorian-seed wrappers and Nicaraguan binders and fillers.

“I wanted a more serious image with our cigar company, and that is the reason we recreated our cigar bands, boxes, and overall presentation,” Daniel told me. “We have a great respect for [the Garcia family], being able to spend time with them, seeing how they run their factory, and seeing how comfortable and in their relaxed state my dad and Don Pepin are when together…this really made our decision an easy one.”

As for the blends themselves, Daniel says “they bring to the table a tremendous complexity in flavor, flawless construction, and effortless draw. I smoke a lot of different cigars out there in the market and only a handful make me feel the way ours do…Every time I finish one I’m looking to light up a second one right away.”

Both new blends come in four vitolas that retail for $6.80 to $8.60 apiece: Pyramid (6 x 52), Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 50), and Toro Gordo (6 x 60). They are sold mostly in the New England area, including shops in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, but are also available at several locales in Florida. Daniel is looking to expand distribution nationwide.

My first exposure to the new El Tiante was with the Habano Oscuro Pyramid, and it was a pleasant one. This cigar starts with lots of chary, chewy Nicaraguan zing. Black pepper, cayenne spice, barbeque sauce, and dried fruit make up the bulk of the bold profile. After a half inch, the flavor mellows slightly, dropping some of the spice and picking up roasted nuts and cream. But the overall impact is still full-bodied.

Smoking slowly really pays off, allowing the nuances of the blend to shine through despite the cigar’s strength. All the while the construction is outstanding—a testament to the “pride and craftsmanship” at the My Father Cigars operation in Estelí, according to Daniel.

While I was a fan of the original El Tiante blends, I have to say the Oscuro Pyramid is a solid improvement and a good value. I look forward to trying the Habano Rosado soon. For now, the Oscuro Pyramid is worthy of four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys