• Cigar - Paul Garmirian Gourmet Series
• Filler – Dominican
• Binder – Dominican
• Wrapper - Connecticut Shade
• Price – $11.00
• Shape- Corona Grande (6.5 x 46)

Without further ado I present the first review on the newly revamped (still in process) Cigarblog.net.  Today I’m reviewing the Paul Garmirian Gourmet Series corona grande courtesy of our fine friends at P.G. Cigars.  The Gourmet Series was introduced in 1990 and quickly garnered everyones attention for it’s rich, spicy, and deliciously smooth flavors and aromas.  This cigar is considered to be medium bodied and is very balanced.  It is made in the Dominican Republic and boasts an Ecuadorian grown Connecticut Shade wrapper.

I’m pretty sure I need to preface this review with the fact that Connecticut Shade wrapped cigars are not usually what I run to in the evening after a long day at the office.  However, I must say, I was very excited to introduce this stick to flame.  I’ve smoked a few of Paul Garmirian’s offerings in my 15 years of cigar smoking and have always been impressed with the end result.  I must say this one did not disappoint.

The construction on this cigar is flawless, sure there are a few veins but nothing that takes away from the beautiful construction it boasts.  The cigar has a good weight in my hands, there are no soft spots, and the wrapper maintains a consistent color, absolutely flawless.  Pre-light the cigar smells of earth, hay, honey, aged tobacco and roasted nuts, and the pre-light draw provides more of the same flavors.  The draw on both samples I smoked was perfect, thus it took very little effort to get the cigar lit.

The first third of the cigar offered up more of the same great flavors of honey, roasted nut and hay.  The burn was straight and the ash held well with no flaking.  Roasted nuts continue to be the predominate flavor followed by honey and a really nice aged tobacco flavor.  With each draw the cigar provided large amounts of nice creamy smoke.  Near the end of the first third I start to pick up a slight spice that reminded me of nutmeg.

Midway the cigar is just as good as the first 1/4 inch.  The flavors continue to play off of one another with roasted nuts and honey being the main focus.  The creaminess remains between puffs and coats the palate with nice aged tobacco flavors.  The burn remains spot on and the ash continues to hold for around two inches before I tapped it off to avoid any unpleasant experiences.

The last bit of the cigar provided the same palate pleasing flavors as the first and I can definitely say it made me a Connecticut convert.  I’ve never managed to nub a Connecticut wrapped cigar due to the bitterness that most develop toward the end.  Not with this cigar, I smoked both I sampled for this review until I nearly burnt my fingers.  P.G.’s secret has to be their aging.  I’ve been told that some of their tobaccos age up to 7 years before they even see the torcedor’s table, and that after they’re rolled they can box age several years before they see your retailers’ shelves.  All of this combined with the Garmirians’ passion for their product makes for one great smoking experience.  I would definitely buy more to put back for special occasions and gladly advise anyone looking for a true smoking experience to pick these up without hesitation.

I don’t like to do the whole 1-100 “rating” thing on a cigar for a number of reasons,  however I do like to “score” them.  I like to score cigars on the old tried and true “on a scale of 1-10″ method and place a number on it based on my opinion of the cigar, because at the end of the day that’s what it is, an opinion.  Every smoker is different and each of us need to look at these opinions and decide for ourselves what we like and what we don’t.  Based on that basic explanation I would gladly give this beauty a 9.5 out of 10.

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