Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Cigar Review
A couple of nights ago I was at the Tiki Bar Herf and the conversation drifted towards movies. Normally, I think I can hold myself pretty well in a conversation about movies but not so in this situation. One of the herfers, I am told, worked as an editor on 24. Most of the other herfers have at least 15 extra years of movie watching experience on me as well. So, to say the least, I was outmatched.
But listening to the conversation gave me a mental checklist of movies that I should consider with one of those being “The Road.” I decided that tonight, Sunday night that is, would be the night where I poured myself some nice Scotch, smoked a quality cigar and watched an extremely depressing movie about a man and his son in a post-apocalyptic world. Unfortunately for me I picked a cigar that I have not reviewed yet: The Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ Belicoso with the natural wrapper.
It really surprised me to find out that I had never done a review for one of these cigars. I’ve definitely smoked enough of them to have done a few reviews. But, for whatever reason, here I am doing a review while watching a depressing movie.
Depressing movie or not I’ve got to press on with this review. After taking the cigar out of the cellophane I am greeted by a rather powerful combination of smells ranging from leather to spices. Pleasant aroma really. The construction looks mostly good. There are some bumps and raised veins though. It is an oily wrapper.
Cigar Stats
Torpedo
Lenght: 5 ¾″
Ring Guage: 52
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $10.00/Single | $220.00/Box of 24
75% Road Flame!
Just as the movie gets the story moving along quickly this cigar gets the flavors rolling along just as quick. White pepper is quickly followed by some woody notes and a faint but noticeable sweetness. It’s an interesting mixture of flavors and I think it works. One other thing noticeable in the early goings is that this cigar leaves a fairly dry feeling left in my mouth.
Viggo Mortensen and his son are traversing through the ruins of a dead Earth. Trees still stand, there is still water, even a can of soda every now and then. But those trees are dead, the water is lifeless, and the soda was probably flat. Even with all this darkness on the screen in front of me I am still enjoying this cigar.
The second third still has some white pepper and wood. However, the main flavor impression I am beginning to get is floral. There is some sweetness to it but not that much. Like the movie, the flavors are still engaging more than halfway through.
With about a third left there is one more major change in the cigar. Woodiness has come back as oak. There is also a toasty flavor that comes through late in this cigar.
Overall, this is an above average cigar. There is enough there to hold my interest from beginning to end. My one complaint would be that everything about this cigar tends towards being dry. The flavors themselves are dry and, as I mentioned earlier, this cigar leaves you with a distinct dryness in your mouth. In the end, however, this is a sturdy medium-full bodied cigar with a good draw and burn that will not disappoint.
90 points
PS: Watch “The Road” – it is a very good movie. Depressing but good.
Camacho Corojo Monarca Natural Cigar Review
A cursory inspection reveals a couple of raised veins that almost run the length of the cigar and, upon further inspection, that sums up all the negative things I can say about the look of this cigar. The construction is near perfect, it’s oily, there are no soft/hard spots and it even smells good having that kind of aroma that is powerful, yet refined.
Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to smoke a number of these cigars over the last month or so and I have even done a Short Cigar Review for this Camacho Corojo Monarca. My major complaint at the time revolved around my perception that this wasn’t an overly complex cigar. Spicy? Sure. Some other flavors? Yeah. But it just didn’t catch me as being well rounded enough. And it can be a harsh cigar at times.
My subsequent experiences with this cigar have been better than when I did my initial review where I gave this cigar 3 points (roughly 85-88 points or, to put it another way, an average cigar). It may be a little bit better than that and, who knows, this cigar could be awesome, but I am guessing this cigar will fall into the 89-91 point range.
This cigar has the natural wrapper. It also comes with a maduro wrapper. For more information on all the sizes go to the Camacho Corojo Page.
Cigar Stats
Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 50
Wrapper: Honduras Corojo
Binder: Honduras Corojo
Filler: Honduras Corojo
Price: $6.15
SAMCRO Torch!
Just finished having steak and mushrooms, which, now that I think about it, fits perfectly with this cigar. (What cigar doesn’t go well with steak?) It is a very rich cigar that overflows with white pepper, deep caramel, meat and a chorus of other flavors that meld wonderfully together. I know I said in my previous review that this wasn’t a overly complex cigar but this one definitely is.
The draw is absolutely perfect and the burn is relatively even. I’ll probably have to touch it up at some point. The slightly uneven burn can definitely be attributed to the fact that I am smoking under a patio cover in the rain so the humidity is probably pretty high right now.
While it started out as a medium-full bodied cigar after about an inch it has come off the fence and become full bodied. This may not be one of those cigars that will knock you out but it will let you know you are smoking a cigar.
My only major complaint about the Camacho Corojo Monarca is that the flavors do not meld together completely. For example, the sweetness from the caramel clashes with the white pepper creating a touch of harshness. It isn’t enough to significantly detract from my overall enjoyment of this cigar but it is noticeable.
That deep, caramel slowly morphs into a candied sweetness that is not altogether that bad. Oddly enough, I think it may actually meld better with the spice than the deeper caramel flavor.
Other flavors that begin to really come onto the scene after the halfway point include: earth and tobacco. Very good cigar.
90 points
