IL/WI Review -- Graycliff Crystal Pirate

[baboruger]

Reviews for the Graycliff Crystal Pirate, donated by Graycliff Cigars.

Baboruger:
Alanf : Physical Attributes: 30/35 Smoking Experience: 54/65 TOTAL: 84/100
GreySmoke: Physical Attributes: 27/35 Smoking Experience: 56/65 TOTAL: 83/100
Lok17: Physical Attributes: 22/35 Smoking Experience: 52/65 TOTAL: 74/100
Chris7891011:
Joeybear:
Barndog:
Habana:
BigLuke:
Lighthouse:
Vice:
TripleZero:
ArrowJ:

Pearl Label Pirate (Pyramid)

Product Details: Graycliff's Pearl Label Crystal combines an Ecuadorian sungrown wrapper and a blend of Nicaraguan, Dominican and Brazilian tobaccos. A leaf of Grecian adds spice. Very full-bodied, this cigar is for the sophisticated smoker, with a punch of muscular flavor.
length: 6 ring gauge: 52

[alanf]

The description says full-bodied but it certainly wasn't for me!
--------------
Physical Attributes (30/35)

Look and appearance (8/10)
Rich brown, slightly rough, a few small veins, silky sheen

Scent of unlit cigar wrapper/foot (8/10)
Fresh hay

Flavors upon first draw (5/5)
mild, molassas like with some spice

Description of Ash (4/5)
Light grey, fairly firm, easy to flick off at about 1/2 inch

Other/Misc (5/5)
pleasing aroma, lots of smoke

----------------

Smoking Experience (54/65)

Draw (10/10)
For me the draw was perfect.

Burn (6/10)
I had some burn problems that needed 3 or 4 touch-ups during the smoke.

Flavors (28/35)
It starts out as a mild smoke, slightly sweet with some molassas and hints of spice (clove?). At about the 1/2 mark the flavors intensify to medium bodied but they don't change much. Near the end, the smoke gets a little stronger with a touch of bitterness but, again, the same basic flavors. It never reached what I would consider a full-bodied smoke. While the flavors did get stronger and more pronouced, they didn't change much. I was expecting a bit more complexity in flavors and strength.

Other/Misc (10/10)
The is a mild (start) to medium (maybe a bit stronger) smoke that is enjoyable and pleasant.


Total Rating: 84

In rating this cigar I did not consider price - just the enjoyment of the cigar. If this was a less-expensive cigar, I wouldn't mind putting it into my rotation. However, given the cost, I think there are many excellent cigars at a more reasonable price point.

[GreySmoke]

Was Mild to Medium for me.--------------
Physical Attributes (27/35)

Look and appearance (8/10)
Golden brown, slightly rough, a several small veins, dull finish

Scent of unlit cigar wrapper/foot (8/10)
Tobacco and light cedar

Flavors upon first draw (3/5)
mild, cedar wood ( not my personal favorite)

Description of Ash (4/5)
Salt and pepper grey, fairly firm, held well

Other/Misc (4/5)
good construction, blotchy color
----------------

Smoking Experience (56/65)

Draw (9/10)
Slightly loose at start but got better

Burn (10/10)
Well managed and neat

Flavors (30/35)
Started with a mild tobacco and cedar notes. With a slight toast note when retro haled. Flavors got a bit stronger with progress of the smoke but remained thru the entire smoke.
Not very complex for the $$ of this cigar.

Other/Misc (7/10)
Got a bit spongy at the last 1/3 of the cigar

Total Rating: 83

[Lok17]

Look and appearance of the wrapper 5/10
Veiny, mottled appearence. Slight cracks in wrapper.

Scent of unit cigar wrapper and foot 7/10
Pleasent scent noted

Flavors upon first draw and other 4/5
Very pleasen light wood and buttery flavors

Description of ash 1/5
Flaky grey ash. actually had rust spots in the ash. Held for about 1 1/4"
Other/Misc. 5/5


22/35

Draw 9/10
Near perfect draw throughout smoke

Burn 7/10
Uneven, but required no touchups, continually corrected itself.

Flavors 26/35
Started with a hint of butter and light wood. Very light spice that came and went thoughout the smoke. In the 2nd half the wood flavor changed to a hay or straw flavor and grew in intensity until a 3rd unidentifiable flavor came in and perfectly blanced the spice and straw.

Other/misc 10/10

52/66

Overall 74/100
Would smoke again but not at the price for admission...

[Habana-cl]

Look and Appearance of Wrapper:
Slightly veiny, nice looking 7/10
Scent of unlit cigar:
Nice smell, fresh, slight cedar smell 7/10
Flavors upon first draw:
Same as unlit 3/5
Ash:
Held pretty well, tad bit of tunneling 3/5
Pysical Attributes: 20/35
Smoking Experience
Draw:
Very good draw 8/10
Burn:
Slightly uneven throughout, 2 slight touchups 7/10
Flavors:
Slight variance from the beginning of the flavors 1/2 way in. I would say a medium body from my palate. Not overly complex throughout. There where slight changes but nothing boldly. 28/35
Other/Misc:
Abundance of white smoke 6/10
Total 49/65
OVERALL SCORE 69/100
I have never had a Graycliff. I have seen the price on some and have not purchased any. I would probably try a few more of these from the different lines and make a descision based on that. Overall it was an ok smoke but one I would not enjoy all of the time. Flint

[ArrowJ]

The description says full-bodied but it certainly wasn't for me! (ditto)
--------------
Physical Attributes (30/35)

Look and appearance (9/10)
No natural blemishes. Slightly crinkled, but supple.

Scent of unlit cigar wrapper/foot (9/10)
Fresh clean tobacco and something slightly floral. Nothing offensive.

Flavors upon first draw (4/5)
Mild tobacco.

Description of Ash (3/5)
Very loose and flaky. Medium gray with brown flecks in the center.

Other/Misc (5/5)
Attractive shape. Well rolled. Perfect cut with Xikar.

----------------

Smoking Experience (50/65)

Draw (8/10)
Very loose...a little too much, and I like an easy draw.

Burn (6/10)
Required multiple touch ups through the length of the stick.

Flavors (36/45)
This seemed a mild cigar, but that is subjective. I continued to taste mild tobacco and something floral through the first third. At that point I started to taste a more complex leather and wood flavor. Overall, the taste was satisfying, with nothing detracting from it, but not fantastic.

Total Rating: 80

Not something I would smoke a lot of, but I would try another one to see if the burn issues were a fluke. Frankly, the loose ash and burn issues detracted from the enjoyment quite a bit, and may have caused me to score the flavor lower. My favorite part of this cigar experience was the shape of the cigar.

[CHRIS7891011]

Physical Attributes (24/35)

Look and appearance (8/10)
Looks good. Slightly a few more veins than I like.

Scent of unlit cigar wrapper/foot (8/10)
Smells great! Def. seems like its ready to smoke. No ammonia smell at all. A little bit of cedar I think.

Flavors upon first draw (5/5)
Smoooooth. Very good. I can’t detect anything quite yet.

Description of Ash (2/5)
When I got good ash it held pretty well. It did break on my a couple times but I think that’s because I got distracted from it.

Other/Misc (1/5).
It was built well for the first couple inches….


Smoking Experience (19/65)

Draw (4/10)
Started off well but eventually it went to hell. I think that was in conjunction to the burn heading south though. Maybe it was plugged?

Burn (3/10)
For the first inch or two it was great, a real champ. Then something happened and it started to act all funky on me. The burn had to be touched up repeatedly and it never stayed quite right. I got it down to the last 2 inches and it just wouldn’t stay lit. Eventually I gave up.

Flavors (10/35)
Started off nicely with a sort of cedar taste. Very nice. However it reached a point and like I said before it went to hell!

Other/Misc (2/10)
I wanted to love this cigar and from the other reviews I see that I probably just got a bad one. I want to try it again. It really is hard to judge a cigar by the first one you smoke. I’m almost positive that this was just a dud. I’ve smoked the blue label and I loved it.

Also the smoke off the end smelled exactly like chlorine. I don’t know what that means… maybe the rollers got too close to the pool at the Graycliff hotel while making it? Who knows.

I doubt that this cigar deserves such a dismal rating. I think I saw these at my B&M. I’ll have to pick one up before I head back to Cali.

Total Rating: 43 (I highly doubt they are all like this. I am almost positive I got a dud…)

[bigluke23]

I give this an 88...it was my first experience with a Graycliff, and I would definately go back to them...great burn, nice tight, even ash, and never got bitter, it was a great smoke for almost a full 2 hours

[Barndog]

I liked this Cigar.

look and appearance
7/10
scent
5/10 it smelled doughy
flavors
3/5 it smelled like cinnamon
ash
2/5
brownish color didn't hold long
other
4/5 loved the band
21/35

Draw
8/10 very nice and smooth
burn
8/10 burned nice and even.
flavors
25/35 the flavor was nice and smooth, but i was unable to pull out the taste.
other
7/10 i really like the smell.

69/100 i would try this cigar again. on the taste thing it might be just me.

[big04deuce]

Thanks for posting the review for the smoke. Interesting to see the different comments!

[Lighthouse]

CIGAR: Graycliff Crystal Pirate

Physical Attributes (27/35):

Look and appearance of the wrapper (7/10 pts)
Darker brown, mottled, somewhat rough. A few very large veins that produced bumps along each vein.

Scent of unlit cigar wrapper and foot (10/10 pts)
Rich and creamy hay/straw scent – pleasant and somewhat inviting.

Flavors upon first draw and other (4/5 pts)
Very slight peppery taste with a bit of oak. Very loose draw.

Description of Ash (2/5 pts)
VERY flakey and loose. ¼ of the ash split way from the rest. Mostly salt and pepper grey with streaks of tan.

Other/Misc (4/5 pts)
somewhat loose construction, but OK at this point.

Smoking Experience (53 /65):

Draw (10/10 pts)
Very loose and airy, offered a lot of smoke. Little to no resistance.

Burn (7/10 pts)
Canoed right away. Fast burn produced a hot taste at times. Ash began to flower at the 1/3 point and continued for the remained. At times it looked like an exploding cigar. Required several touch-ups and constant care over the last 2/3’s of stick. I also wore a lot of ash flakes.

Flavors (29/35 pts)
Very mild, woody flavor. Second 1/3 offered a creamier hay/straw flavor and stayed that way to the end. No real complexity here, but pleasant enough

Other/Misc (7/10 pts)
I saved this stick for last as my expectations were high given the hype and dollar value of this line. Unfortunately, this stick did not meet expectations. I would certainly have another stick, but would not be inclined to purchase at or near suggested retail.

Total Rating: 80

[iloveclmore]

[SIZE=4]Physical Attributs: 25/35[/SIZE]

Look and appearance: 8/10 pts
Pretty nice. A few smaller veins.

Scent of unlit cigar: 7/10 pts
Not bad. Tobacco and hay.

Flavors on first draw: 3/5 pts
A little spice, but not much to taste.

Ash: 3/5 pts
Dark gray and flaky at first. Seems pretty firm. Actually yellow at parts. nsure:

Misc . 4/5pts

---------
[SIZE=4]Smoking Experience 48/65[/SIZE]

Draw: 9/10 pts
Some resistance, but does not detract from the experience.

Burn: 8/10 pts
Uneven at first, but corrected itself about 1/4 in.

Flavors 25/35 pts
Overall not too bad. Enjoyable for the most part. A strange aftertaste though.

Misc 6/10 pts
Doesn't produce a whole lot of smoke overall.
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[SIZE=4]Total score 73[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Not great, especially for the price.

[tobacmon]

Originally Posted by alanf

The description says full-bodied but it certainly wasn't for me!
--------------
Physical Attributes (30/35)

Look and appearance (8/10)
Rich brown, slightly rough, a few small veins, silky sheen

Scent of unlit cigar wrapper/foot (8/10)
Fresh hay

Flavors upon first draw (5/5)
mild, molassas like with some spice

Description of Ash (4/5)
Light grey, fairly firm, easy to flick off at about 1/2 inch

Other/Misc (5/5)
pleasing aroma, lots of smoke

----------------

Smoking Experience (54/65)

Draw (10/10)
For me the draw was perfect.

Burn (6/10)
I had some burn problems that needed 3 or 4 touch-ups during the smoke.

Flavors (28/35)
It starts out as a mild smoke, slightly sweet with some molassas and hints of spice (clove?). At about the 1/2 mark the flavors intensify to medium bodied but they don't change much. Near the end, the smoke gets a little stronger with a touch of bitterness but, again, the same basic flavors. It never reached what I would consider a full-bodied smoke. While the flavors did get stronger and more pronouced, they didn't change much. I was expecting a bit more complexity in flavors and strength.

Other/Misc (10/10)
The is a mild (start) to medium (maybe a bit stronger) smoke that is enjoyable and pleasant.


Total Rating: 84

In rating this cigar I did not consider price - just the enjoyment of the cigar. If this was a less-expensive cigar, I wouldn't mind putting it into my rotation. However, given the cost, I think there are many excellent cigars at a more reasonable price point.

Excuse me for being lazy but I thought I'd chime in on this to give my feelings on this smoke. I felt pretty much the same as Alan here on his review as I too enjoy this smoke with all its flavor ,draw, burn, aroma smoke and taste. I had no issues with the burn so that is why I came up with an 85 total.

Also the price on this smoke is a bit pricey and probably would not purchase them any other way than a trade that I did.