Cohiba Behike BHK 52 Torpedo Review

Overview

The Cohiba Behike BHK 52 Torpedo is more than a cigar; it is a distillation of Havana’s rarest tobacco alchemy, a smoke that exists at the zenith of Cuban craftsmanship. Launched in 2010 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Cohiba brand—itself founded in 1966 and unveiled to the world in 1982—the Behike line was born at the legendary El Laguito factory in Havana, where only the most senior torcedores are entrusted with its construction. The BHK 52, in its Piramide vitola, is the entry point to a trilogy that includes the BHK 54 and BHK 56, yet it holds a singular place in the collector’s pantheon: its 6.9-inch length and 52-ring gauge taper create a smoking experience that rewards patience with an evolving narrative of flavor. What sets this cigar apart from every other Cuban expression is the Medio Tiempo leaf, a rare upper-priming tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo region that yields only two leaves per plant, aged a minimum of two years before rolling. This component, woven into both wrapper and filler, imparts a dense, resinous character that no other brand can legally or practically replicate at scale. The wrapper itself is a study in visual refinement—a Colorado shade, ranging from rich chestnut-brown to dark reddish-brown, silky with a subtle natural oil sheen that speaks to careful aging and selection. The binder and filler, also Vuelta Abajo, complete a blend that is both deliberately limited and unmistakably Cuban in its terroir-driven intensity. The presentation, in black-lacquered boxes of ten, underscores the Behike’s status as a prestige-tier artifact, a cigar that serious collectors benchmark everything else against. From the first draw, the tapered head delivers a refined complexity: cream, roasted almonds, and dry cedar, underlaid by a pronounced earthy Cuban note and a restrained sweetness reminiscent of dark honey on toasted bread. A white pepper spice emerges on the retrohale, telegraphing the Medio Tiempo’s signature intensity without aggression. As the burn reaches the cigar’s fattest girth, the second third deepens into dark espresso, rich cocoa, and aged leather, with the Medio Tiempo revealing a dense, almost resinous tobacco core that no other vitola replicates. Hints of dried fig and dark cherry weave through the earthiness, and the Havana spice intensifies. The final third rewards patience with a concentrated convergence of espresso grounds, dark chocolate, cedar tar, and a mineral, flint-like finish that lingers with bourbon-like warmth. Construction is typically impeccable, with a near-perfect draw, cool burn, and dense pale-grey ash that holds 1.5 to 2 inches. Yet the Behike is not without its complexities: some BHK 54 and 56 examples have shown inconsistency from box to box, a frustrating reality of Cuban production. But when the BHK 52 Torpedo fires properly—and it often does—it delivers the most distinctive flavor signature in the Cuban canon, a benchmark against which all other smokes are measured.