Casa Cuevas Sangre Nueva Toro

When talking with people outside of the cigar industry, it oftentimes seems they are surprised by just how many generations of the same family tend to be a part of cigar businesses. There are a number of well-known examples, of course—from the Fuentes to the Padrons—but there are many other companies that fit into that mold that even some seasoned cigar smokers are probably not as familiar with.

Casa Cuevas is one of them: the family’s patriarch was Juan Cuevas, a Spanish immigrant who cultivated tobacco in the Pinar de Rio region of Cuba in the 19th century. He was joined by his son Juan Jr., and they both expanded the business until the Cuban Revolution, which forced the family to move out of the country in 1959. Eventually, they ended up in the Dominican Republic, where Luis Cuevas Sr.—Juan’s Jr.’s son—continued to grow the business by opening the family’s cigar factory, Tabacalera Las Lavas. Luis Sr.’s son Luis Jr. is the fourth generation to join the business when he came of age.

In 2019, Alec Cuevas officially joined his father and grandfather, becoming the fifth generation of the family to work in the tobacco business. In January 2020, he was named the company’s director of operations, and in 2021 he and his father, Luis, blended the Patrimonio line in honor of Luis Cuevas Sr. Alec was then named as Casa Cuevas’ director of brand development in June 2022, just before the company announced it would be releasing a new line created by Alec.

Named Sangre Nueva, the blend is made up of a Cameroon-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador covering a Honduran corojo binder as well as filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Pennsylvania. In addition, while it was not announced before the cigar debuted during the 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Cuevas revealed to halfwheel that the blend contains a very small amount—about two percent of the total filler—of Kentucky fire-cured tobacco.

“The slogan “old traditions, new generation” signifies so much more to me than a passing of the family torch,” said Alec Cuevas in a press release. “It represents all the experiences I’ve ever been through in this industry, from working behind the counter selling my fellow manufacturer’s products, to spending my summers learning all there is to know about our factory from a very young age. Sangre Nueva is a personal love letter to my family, who placed their faith in me to create something from scratch given my knowledge of tobacco.”

The Casa Cuevas Sangre Nueva debuted in three sizes, each packaged in 10-count boxes.

The cigars are made at the Cuevas family’s Tabacalera Las Lavas factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic and boxes began shipping to retailers in September.

• Cigar Reviewed: Casa Cuevas Sangre Nueva Toro
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera Las Lavas S.R.L.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Cameroon)
• Binder: Honduras (Corojo)
• Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & U.S.A. (Pennsylvania Broadleaf and Kentucky Fire Cured)
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $13.50 (Box of 10, $135)
• Release Date: September 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

I can easily smell the Casa Cuevas Sangre Nueva Toro immediately after I remove the cellophane: a combination of strong campfire, mesquite, black pepper and light spearmint that is fairly aggressive in nature. The wrapper is a cinnamon brown color and is parchment rough to the touch, but there is very little oil noticeable. With that said, a physical inspection reveals a large number of protruding veins and small bumps under the wrapper, and I find a small soft spot just under the main band on one cigar. While the aromas from the wrapper are extremely pungent, the scents emanating from the foot are even more aggressive, with the same campfire, mesquite and black pepper leading the way, although there is also a small amount of new leather and earth notes mixed in. After cutting the cap, the cold draw brings even more mesquite and campfire flavors, along with leather, barbecue sauce sweetness, black pepper, earth and some baker’s spices.

Considering the nature of the aromas that are emanating from this cigar, I am not exactly surprised when the first few puffs are drenched in a combination of campfire, black pepper and spices that is somewhat overwhelming for a short time. Thankfully, the profile becomes noticeably more manageable and less aggressive about 10 puffs in, with distinct mesquite wood and charred meat taking over the top spots. Secondary flavors of earth, leather tack, citrus peel, rich espresso beans, sourdough bread and dark chocolate flit in and out at various points, while the retrohale features a surprisingly restrained amount of black pepper—although it is definitely still present—and some obvious barbecue sauce sweetness that seems to be pulled almost directly from the cold draw. Flavor ends the first third just over medium while both the strength and body hit reach a point just under medium. In terms of construction, all three cigars have burn lines that are a bit wavy at times—but never bad enough to need correcting— as well as excellent draws and no lack of thick, gray smoke flowing from their feet.

There are a few major changes during the second third of the Sangre Nueva Toro, starting with the fact that the profile begins to mellow out considerably, losing the aggressiveness that defined the first third. Not only is there less black pepper and spice, but the main flavors change completely to a combination of peanuts and cocoa nibs, followed by secondary flavors of sourdough bread, gritty earth, light mesquite and cinnamon. As previously mentioned, there is less black pepper on the retrohale, while the sweetness has shifted to a nice floral sweetness that continues to increase in strength as the second third burns down. Flavor decreases slightly to land at a solid medium, while both the body and strength have increased to slightly greater than medium. Construction-wise, all three cigars continue to give me excellent smoke production and great draws, but the burns on all three of the cigars need corrections with my lighter to keep on track.

The mellowness of the profile continues to be the main story during the final third of the Casa Cuevas, as peanuts and cocoa nibs continue to top the other flavors of generic wood, toasted bread, cinnamon, gritty earth, leather tack and espresso beans.  There is slightly more floral sweetness on the retrohale, but the amount of black pepper continues to decrease with every puff. The strength reaches medium-full just before I put the nub down with less than an inch remaining, while the body lags behind a bit at medium-plus and the flavor has increased again to land at slightly above medium. Finally, all three cigars continue to feature excellent draws and copious smoke production and the burn on each has evened up nicely, giving me no more issues until the end of the cigar.

Final Notes

• The name Sangre Nueva translates to new blood from Spanish, a somewhat appropriate moniker considering who created the cigar.
• While Casa Cuevas may be new to some consumers, the Cuevas family has been working with tobacco for more than 70 years and actually operates the Tabacalera Las Lavas S.R.L. factory, which makes cigars for a variety of companies, notably Gurkha.
• I have said it before, but I think it bears repeating: I absolutely love the fact that younger generations of cigar makers are becoming more active in various companies, as I think the new perspectives they bring can really help to move our industry forward in positive ways.
• While the profile is extremely aggressive in the first third—full of mesquite and campfire flavors that I associate with fire-cured tobacco—most of those flavors have almost totally dissipated by the halfway point in the cigar, almost like the blend was front-loaded to give a massive punch before purposely becoming more mellow.
• I would agree with the company that this is a medium-full blend—albeit closer to medium than full, in my opinion—but the strength builds slowly enough that it never becomes problematic to the balance.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to two hours and nine minutes.