Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet Box-Pressed Torpedo

During the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Stolen Throne debuted a new regular production line named Yorktown Fleet. According to Lee Marsh, co-owner of Stolen Throne, the name was chosen after Stolen Throne recently opened a new headquarters in Yorktown, Va.

The city has an impressive history: on Oct. 19, 1781, Gen. Charles Cornwallis of Great Britain surrendered in Yorktown to George Washington and the French Navy. Today, the U.S. Navy operates Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, which provides weapons and ammunition to the Atlantic Fleet.

In terms of the blend, the Yorktown Fleet incorporates an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper covering a binder and filler blend made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco. According to Marsh, the filler also includes a ligero grown in the Condea region of Nicaragua that the company has never used before.

Both vitolas are being sold in 20-count bundles, which are designed to be added to existing retail displays in store humidors. As is the case with the rest of Stolen Throne’s cigars, production of the Yorkrown Fleet is being handled at the Rojas Cigar Factory located in Estelí, Nicaragua and bundles started shipping to retailers in September.

A dark brown wrapper with some noticeably mottling covers all three of the Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet cigars, and while some veins are obvious from a visual standpoint, very few are protruding. Despite the obvious lack of any oil, the wrappers are uniformly smooth to the touch, and all three cigars are nicely firm when squeezed. In addition, the soft box press looks great, and the covered feet are a nice touch. Aromas from the wrappers are relatively faint, but a creamy woodiness stands above barnyard, earthiness, leather, and generic sweetness. In contrast, a strong cinnamon note easily tops straw, mocha coffee, woodiness, leather and light fruity sweetness. After a straight cut, the cold draws bring flavors of aromatic cedar, powdery cocoa nibs, earthiness, baker’s spices, and a nice fruity sweetness, with my last cigar exhibiting quite a bit more of the latter note than the other two.

A burst of espresso and cream combined with some light black pepper and spice start the cigars off, but the profile shifts quickly as a combination of creamy cedar and cinnamon takes over the top spot. Secondary flavors of gritty earth, sourdough bread, brewed coffee, hay and light asparagus make themselves known at various points. Two of the cigars feature a combination of black pepper and fruity sweetness on the retrohale, but my last cigar has a rich maple syrup sweetness instead. The flavor ends the first third at a solid medium for the first two cigars and medium-plus for the last one, while the body hits a point just under medium, and the strength lands at a solid medium for all three cigars. In terms of construction, there are no issues at all across all three cigars: excellent draws, straight burn lines, and more than enough gray smoke.

While the creamy cedar continues to dominate the profile of the Yorktown Fleet during the second third, the cinnamon that was so prevalent in the previous third recedes to the background after being replaced by a sourdough bread note. Additional flavors include powdery cooca nibs, bitter espresso, dank earth, leather, generic nuttiness and slight citrus peel. Black pepper and fruity sweetness continue strong on the retrohale of two of the cigars, but the last one still exhibits a wonderful maple syrup sweetness instead. Flavor for the first two cigars increases slightly to land at a point just over medium—the last cigar is higher at medium-full—while the body is a solid medium and the strength ends at a point just over medium. All three cigars continue to feature excellent construction in all aspects, with no problems at all when it comes to the burn lines, draws and smoke production.

Rich dark chocolate takes over as the main flavor in the profile of the Yorktown Fleet, followed by creamy cedar, cinnamon, peanuts, earthiness, toasted bread, and faint citrus peel. The black pepper continues to be noticeable on the retrohale for all three cigars, but the sweetness remains the same as in previous thirds as well: fruity sweetness for two of the cigars, while the last features maple syrup. Strength and body meet at medium-plus, and while the flavor for two cigars ends at medium-plus, the final cigar ends at medium-full. Finally, the construction for all three cigars continues down their excellent paths, with the draws, smoke production and burn lines all working in harmony until I put the nubs down with about an inch remaining.

Final Notes

• The Yorktown is both a class of U.S. aircraft carriers built before World War II as well as the name of a specific aircraft carrier, the latter of which was sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Midway.
• Stolen Throne also announced it had taken over the distribution of ER Fine Cigars during the 2023 PCA Convention, a brand created by former NFL player Ed Reed that is produced by Plasencia.
• Do not smoke this cigar too fast or puff too fast, or this blend will punish you by becoming acrid and bitter. Keep it nice and slow and you should be fine in that regard.
• These three cigars featured some of the best construction I have experienced in a long time: straight burn lines, excellent draws and copious amounts of smoke.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to one hour and 22 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Stolen Throne Yorktown Fleet Box-Pressed Torpedo cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop have them for sale on their respective websites.