danthebugman
BoM Nov '10
A wonderful and mysterious thing happened yesterday. My wife came home from work complaining she wasn't feeling well. In the same breath she mentioned how nice it was outside and that perhaps I should go out on the deck and enjoy a cigar. My first reaction was who the hell are you and what have you done with my wife? But that soon faded as I began to plot which cigar would meet it's demise. After finishing dinner, getting the kid bathed, and putting him to bed I headed to the deck.
After a great deal of pondering I finally decided on the Jamie Garcia Reserva Especial, specifically the Belicoso which measures 5.5 x 52. The filler is Nicaraguan and I have seen the binder listed as both Nicaraguan and Ecuadorian, though I believe the later to be correct. This cigar is a real beauty to behold. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is a dark chocolate color with a nice oily sheen to it. There are a couple small veins present, but nothing that should cause any problems. There is some tooth present and the seams are all but invisible. When pinched, the cigar gives ever so slightly and there are no discernible soft spots. The band itself contrasts nicely against the dark wrapper and has a simple, elegant look to it.
When I pulled the cigar from its wrapper, I was met with a bouquet of aromas the strongest of which was a pungent barnyard aroma. There was also an underlying sweetness and some spice. I clipped about 1/4" from the cap of the cigar, which came off easily and left behind a draw that was perhaps a touch on the loose side. The flavors it carried were a mixture of chocolate, tobacco, and a light spice that I could not place. The cigar lit easily and produced large amounts of thick smoke right off the bat.
It took a couple of puffs for the flavors to warm up, but once they did it was a real treat. You might think that since this is a cigar in the My Father lineup and is produced by a company that is known for it's peppery, spicy cigars you'd be smacked in the face from the start, but this isn't the case. In fact there was only a very small amount of pepper at the start and it disappeared completely from the flavor profile after a couple of puffs. What my senses were greeted with was a woody, dark chocolate, maduro flavor that carried on it a spice (which was more discernible through the nose) and finished with a slight fruitiness (like raisins or cherries). This fruitiness was amplified by the Crown Royal and coke I was drinking. As it burned the ash layered nicely into a tight pillar.
By the end of the first third, the woody component took on a more charred flavor and moved to the background, while the dark (almost bitter) chocolate came to the foreground and was joined by an earthiness. The spice was still present and I still can't quite put my finger on what it reminded me of. The finish was definitely a raisin flavor at this point. The ash at this point was something in it's own right as it hung on strongly. At one point I even gave it a little tap over the ashtray to see if it'd fall...strong as a rock.
Unfortunately my camera batteries gave out at this point so I don't have any further pics. When I got withing about a 1/4" of the band I decided it was time to remove it, unfortunately the ash fell while attempting to do that :crying:. The band came off fine though, no tearing of the wrapper or anything like that. It may seem a trivial thing, but for those that like to keep their wrappers and use them for various projects, it really is an added bonus to have them come off in mint condition. The flavors remained much the same in the last third though the spice did die way down as did the raisin on the finish. The charred wood came roaring back and slightly overpowered the dark chocolate. It reminded me some of gnawing a roasted marshmallow off the end of a stick...you know if you like your marshmallows black like I do.
Overall I liked this stick very much. Construction was excellent, I only had one touch up and the burn was mostly straight throughout the smoke. The flavors weren't your typical Pepin stick, but they were good. Besides isn't variety the spice of life? The best part is the price point. If bought by the box, this particular viotla is about $6.65 a stick. This cigar could easily be in the $10+ range and in fact was slated to carry a steep $20 per cigar price tag before it's release. It reminds me of a while back when I was looking for a bottle of wine to give as a gift for a family friend. I'm not a wine drinker and don't pretend to know what to look for in these matters so I usually refer to the expertise of the employees at my favorite store. Told them what I was looking for and that I wasn't really looking to spend an arm and a leg on a good bottle of wine. "Is $20 too much?" is what the guy asked and I told him absolutely not. "This is what you want. The grapes they use in this wine are the same they use in that $100 bottle over there." Now I didn't drink the wine, but was told it was very good. I could see this exact scenario playing out in cigar shops across the US.
I will be getting more of these, the Petite Robust sounds appealing. I had forgotten who bombed me with this cigar, but after a little digging I found out it was Clint (why doesn't that surprise me). Thanks a lot man, that is a damn good stick :thumbsup:.
Dan
After a great deal of pondering I finally decided on the Jamie Garcia Reserva Especial, specifically the Belicoso which measures 5.5 x 52. The filler is Nicaraguan and I have seen the binder listed as both Nicaraguan and Ecuadorian, though I believe the later to be correct. This cigar is a real beauty to behold. The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is a dark chocolate color with a nice oily sheen to it. There are a couple small veins present, but nothing that should cause any problems. There is some tooth present and the seams are all but invisible. When pinched, the cigar gives ever so slightly and there are no discernible soft spots. The band itself contrasts nicely against the dark wrapper and has a simple, elegant look to it.
When I pulled the cigar from its wrapper, I was met with a bouquet of aromas the strongest of which was a pungent barnyard aroma. There was also an underlying sweetness and some spice. I clipped about 1/4" from the cap of the cigar, which came off easily and left behind a draw that was perhaps a touch on the loose side. The flavors it carried were a mixture of chocolate, tobacco, and a light spice that I could not place. The cigar lit easily and produced large amounts of thick smoke right off the bat.
It took a couple of puffs for the flavors to warm up, but once they did it was a real treat. You might think that since this is a cigar in the My Father lineup and is produced by a company that is known for it's peppery, spicy cigars you'd be smacked in the face from the start, but this isn't the case. In fact there was only a very small amount of pepper at the start and it disappeared completely from the flavor profile after a couple of puffs. What my senses were greeted with was a woody, dark chocolate, maduro flavor that carried on it a spice (which was more discernible through the nose) and finished with a slight fruitiness (like raisins or cherries). This fruitiness was amplified by the Crown Royal and coke I was drinking. As it burned the ash layered nicely into a tight pillar.
By the end of the first third, the woody component took on a more charred flavor and moved to the background, while the dark (almost bitter) chocolate came to the foreground and was joined by an earthiness. The spice was still present and I still can't quite put my finger on what it reminded me of. The finish was definitely a raisin flavor at this point. The ash at this point was something in it's own right as it hung on strongly. At one point I even gave it a little tap over the ashtray to see if it'd fall...strong as a rock.
Unfortunately my camera batteries gave out at this point so I don't have any further pics. When I got withing about a 1/4" of the band I decided it was time to remove it, unfortunately the ash fell while attempting to do that :crying:. The band came off fine though, no tearing of the wrapper or anything like that. It may seem a trivial thing, but for those that like to keep their wrappers and use them for various projects, it really is an added bonus to have them come off in mint condition. The flavors remained much the same in the last third though the spice did die way down as did the raisin on the finish. The charred wood came roaring back and slightly overpowered the dark chocolate. It reminded me some of gnawing a roasted marshmallow off the end of a stick...you know if you like your marshmallows black like I do.
Overall I liked this stick very much. Construction was excellent, I only had one touch up and the burn was mostly straight throughout the smoke. The flavors weren't your typical Pepin stick, but they were good. Besides isn't variety the spice of life? The best part is the price point. If bought by the box, this particular viotla is about $6.65 a stick. This cigar could easily be in the $10+ range and in fact was slated to carry a steep $20 per cigar price tag before it's release. It reminds me of a while back when I was looking for a bottle of wine to give as a gift for a family friend. I'm not a wine drinker and don't pretend to know what to look for in these matters so I usually refer to the expertise of the employees at my favorite store. Told them what I was looking for and that I wasn't really looking to spend an arm and a leg on a good bottle of wine. "Is $20 too much?" is what the guy asked and I told him absolutely not. "This is what you want. The grapes they use in this wine are the same they use in that $100 bottle over there." Now I didn't drink the wine, but was told it was very good. I could see this exact scenario playing out in cigar shops across the US.
I will be getting more of these, the Petite Robust sounds appealing. I had forgotten who bombed me with this cigar, but after a little digging I found out it was Clint (why doesn't that surprise me). Thanks a lot man, that is a damn good stick :thumbsup:.
Dan
