Paul Garmirian "pgcigars.com" P.G. No.1 /pic Review

[omowasu]

Paul Garmirian cigars are unique, to say the least. They are hard to find due to limited distribution and somewhat expensive when they are eventually located. They are rolled in the Davidoff factory in the Dominican Republic, but do not share the same tobaccos with the Davidoff line. The pioneer of PG Cigars, Paul Garmirian, has penned books on cigar smoking and maintains a whole line of well-reviewed cigar accessories.



For this review, I chose the P.G. No. 1, an absolutely delicious looking 7 1/2" x 38rg lancero style cigar . When I see the selection of both Garmirians and Davidoffs in the smaller RG's, I smile a bit. I dont totally buy into the "bigger is better" trend, and many of these cigars prove that. This one, in particular, was picked from a spanish cedar cabinet of 25, was not celloed, and had an MSRP of around 9.00. The cigar itself was extremely well built with a unique pigtailed cap and smooth, silky wrapper. Pre-light draw was slightly tight, but not too tight - just enough to keep me from "hotboxing" the thinner RG.

Smoking this one was different as well. While I may describe some cigar profiles as "spicy", "earthy", etc, this one definitely started out as herbal and vegetal, with coffee-like bitterness in the background. When I say herbal, I mean I could actually taste a profile of herbs in the smoke - dill, sage, etc - and it was very unique. I havent had this profile from very many cigars, and I enjoyed it. The smoke was somewhat dynamic, after about 1/3, more vegetal and coffee flavors arrived, and after 2/3, coffee and bitterness dominated the flavor profile. I tried to purge out the bitter flavors, and with the aid of a lighter flames shot from the front of the cigar - the tars had built up significantly throughout the smoke and lodged in the last 1/3 of this long cigar. This one was left to pasture with 1/4 left. Burn was razor sharp and dead-on, ash was a light to dark grey in color. Body was medium, nicotine strength was mild.

I found it very hard to put my finger on this one - if you like a vegetal or herbal flavor profile, put the PG gourmet series on your "need to try" list. Also, if you are a fan of Dominican tobaccos, this one hits on all cylinders. As for me, I need to smoke another so I can wrap my head around this one - which means that I enjoyed it enough to try another and see if they deserve a bigger space in my humidors. I think the next couple I procure will be of larger girth, in order to avoid the tar build-up that can happen with some longer, thinner stogies.

[Papichulo]

Informative review. Too bad it tasted like "vegetal". Do think extensive aging would help?

[mastershogun]

great review... let us know how the other ones go

[kheffelf]

Thanks for the review, I have been wanting to try a Paul Garmirian cigar for some time now.

[omowasu]

Originally Posted by Papichulo

Informative review. Too bad it tasted like "vegetal". Do think extensive aging would help?

Sorry, I was too busy staring at the avatar.

Garmirian uses all aged tobaccos in his blends, so I dont believe that aging would remove the vegetal flavors - that is not necessarily a bad thing, though - some folks like a grassy or vegetal taste to their stogies.

I am going to try another that is a little fatter and will see if the phenomenon continues across the entire Garmirian gourmet line.

[madurolover]

I had one with about a year on it and it had about the same tastes as you noted. Not too bad but not my favorite profile. great stick for someone who likes these qualities.