West Tampa Dark Time comes from West Tampa Tobacco Company. The cigar was showcased at the 2025 PCA Trade show in New Orleans. According to company co-owner Gus Martinez, “Time is our most precious resource and what better way to spend that time than sharing our finest cigar with family and friends. Painstakingly blended and aged over three and a half years Dark Time will not disappoint.”
The cigars come in 10 count boxes and and it includes a double-guillotine cigar cutter that looks like a Rolex GMT II.
Cigar Review: West Tampa Dark Time
Size: 6 x 54 (Robusto)
Wrapper: USA Broadleaf
Binder: Ecuador Sumatra
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Factory: Nicaragua American Cigars S.A.
Release Date: June 2025
Production: Limited (2,500 Boxes of 10)
Box Size: 10
The Cigar: The black, gray & silver band reminds me of a design made with spirograph which was an art toy of my childhood. The broadleaf wrapper has some uneven coloring and a few notable veins. Despite being in my humidor which is kept at 65% currently the cigar feels and looks dry. The roll of the cigar is porous especially near the cap while the cigar has no voids of tobacco and a nice weight to it.
The Taste: The cold draw reminds of raisinettes with a subtle amount of wood while the foot has some fudge like components to it. Definitely not what I was expecting and it has me eager to light it up.
The first third has none of the sweetness from the cold draw which is a disappointment at first but the cigar delivers in terms of flavor. There is an abundance of wood notes along with some leather and white pepper. As the first third comes to a close there is a peanut like aroma and flavor profile developed with some dry earth as well. The retrohale adds some salt to the mix and graham crackers.
Moving into the second third the wood and nutty notes remain but there is a subtle lemon rind present as well as if its been twisted and run along the edge of an espresso cup which lasts until the halfway point. The cigar is loaded with earth and leather as we transcend over the middle point of the cigar with a hint of brown sugar and nuttiness. The retrohale remains salty with some red pepper. One item of note is the smoke on the exhale and retrohale has a bluish tint to it.
The final third sees the medium strength cigar move closer to full as notes of black pepper, leather and earth remain the focal point. There is some wood on the aroma and the retrohale but not much going on as the cigar comes to a close.
Conclusion: The original plans was to smoke two of these cigars but with the first two so epically different we had to smoke a third. The result was this review which is ashame because 1 of the 3 cigars smoked and burned incredibly different that I have a hard time believing was the same cigar of the two that made up this review. I also have a hard time with the price and for the first time ever I will ding this cigar a point for it. Let me explain. This 10 count box retails for $300.00. For those who don’t buy a box they are $30.00 a cigar. The company then created a custom cutter looking like a Rolex that they may have had to pay royalties for. The result is a cigar that smoke about $15-$20 under the price tag per stick.
While a broken clock is right twice a day, this cigar definitely definitely not worth your time.
Score: 79
Price: $30.00
If you want to see for yourself you can get Dark Time at Small Batch Cigar and the coupon code BARRELBURNER will save you 10%
