Quick Review – Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Toro Gordo

This afternoon I finally made my way to Belle Meade Cigars to enjoy a good cigar.  It’s been a very long weekend and has been way too hot in Tennessee to enjoy a cigar outside on the deck.  The short trip gave me some time to reflect on the cigar I wanted to enjoy while watching this afternoon’s World Cup matches.  After some pondering I decided to go for something new that I hadn’t yet had the pleasure of smoking.

When I toured the humidor there was one new cigar that caught my eye; the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial.  I’ve been looking forward to sampling these cigars since first hearing they were being released.  I had also heard several good things about them a few nights before from several trusted sources.  I was a little disappointed that the Toro Gordo was the only size available because it’s not normally my first choice of vitola.  I was really looking forward to sampling the petite robusto which has been a favorite vitola of mine as of late thanks to the My Father Le Bijou 1922 offering of the same size.

The cigar was very well constructed, but I noticed it was a little wet which made it a little difficult to light.  However, once the cigar got going it produced loads of smoke and held a nice ash with very little flaking.  I picked up a nice sweetness right away which I’m sure was due to the wonderful dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.  The predominant flavors were cocoa and cinnamon along with a slight peppery spice.  The cigar almost seemed to flaten out a little toward the start of the final third, almost like it lost it’s oomph.  I still picked up a lot of the same flavors into the last third, but it never quite graduated to that “next level”.  I did purchase a few additional sticks so I could give this offering another try.  The flavors were nice and I think the cigar deserves a second chance, but I think I’ll dry box the next one for a day to prevent the same issue I experienced today.

2 Comment(s)

  1. I prefer smoother, less harsh cigars.

    Carl Richardson | Jul 9, 2010 | Reply

  2. I grabbed a few from Uptowns last week and REALLY liked them. I didn’t have a burn or light issue, so maybe the few weeks difference did them some good.

    PatL | Jul 11, 2010 | Reply

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