Famous Nic Sun Grown - Robusto

[mostholycerebus]

Country: Nicaragua
Length/Ring: 5 x 50
Shape: Robusto
Wrapper: Natural

Looking to max out my new famous card, I recently stumbled on this new offering. I ordered a bundle and 3 days later, they arrived on my doorstep. I immediately pulled one out to smoke on the drive to work.

The first thing I always do is sniff the foot (uncouth, i know). It smelled slightly spicy but underdone. You can definitely tell when a cigar has sat long by this test, IMO anyway. This one needed time, but I wanted to give it a go anyway, I love Sun Growns.

Looking at the wrapper, I was not impressed. It had several flaws, was uneven and 'lumpy' and had a very noticable stem running about a third of the length. It looked worse than pretty much any 'second' i've smoked, and I smoke a LOT of seconds. Maybe I just grabbed the joker of the bunde, time will tell.

Clipped it with the Craftsmens Bench, cut was smooth and clean, no tobacco falling out. Light was even with my Vector-fueled 3-jet cheapy and the first few puffs had that Sun Grown taste, if a bit understated. As I continued to smoke, it did seem to develop different flavors, but nothing I could specifically place because of how weak they were. I feel these may develop with time and better storage, and make this a decent smoke.

Two things I noticed in line with Famous' other recent offerings, a few of which I reviewed, were aroma and build as the cigar developed. This cigar was STINKY. To the point that my wife, coworkers, even cigar smoking friends noticed. And not your 'hmm, nice cigar' stinky, but a crappy 5-cent prarie weed cigar stinky. And it lingered long, on clothes and car.

The other thing was the ash (and subsequently build). While I did not check for soft spots, I did notice that the ash was neither very strong nor very white. It was in fact rather dark and unevenly colored, a bit spotty, and fell regularly every half-inch or so. Compared to other Olivas (which these are rumored to be) this was a very dissapointing change.

In summary, while this cigar was not terrible, and I would gladly take one from a friend, I will not be buying more. It (like the rest of the Oliva-supplied Famous lines - excepting Nic 3000) suffers from bad construction, and judging by smell and lack of flavor, second-rate tobbaco. Perhaps these will become amazing with time, but for now in this price range I HIGHLY recommend the Rocky Patel Sun Grown seconds over these. They are similar in price but are better constructed and have better Sun Grown flavor. Keep in mind this comes from someone with a cooler 75% stocked with Oliva firsts, but in this economy (or any really) personally I place enjoyment and value above brand loyalty.

[golfermd]

Thanks for the review. Looks like on to avoid...

[big04deuce]

Thanks for sharing the review!