Legends Graycliff (Purple Label) Review

[ghost]

I have tried several different smokes from Graycliff and I have found them to be, well, intresting. Can't say I hated any of them (although I did have some that were inconsistent that made for a bad experience), but I liked some more than others and the flavors they produced were unique, at least to me. With that said I have been curious about Graycliff entry into CI's Legends line, so I decided to get a 5er from devil's. This weekend I gave one a go.

Storage: This has been resting for about three weeks in my small 70% RH coolerdor.

Settings: Around 2PM in the garage. The Northeast has gotten brutally cold, so if I wanted a smoke I had to settle for the man-cave that is the garage with the door closed.

Appearance: Not really a good looking stick. Very toothy and a sort of dirty, light brown color.

Promo: This taken off from CI website on the Purple Label:

The toothy, leathery Indonesian wrapper cloaks a fine 4-country blend of supremely aged tobaccos from the Dominican, Nicaragua and Brazil. This balanced mixture produces an initial explosion of cedary flavor that mellows into a medium-bodied smoked filled with toasty notes and a unique, creamy hint of cashews around the halfway point.

1/3rd: Made the cut with my Palio and toasted the foot. This produced a heavy tobacco smell. First draw produced very little of anything. The next few puffs gave off a type of mildish earthy flavor that was difficult to pin down. Very good burn and produced a good amount of white smoke.

[B] 2/3rd[B]: Towards the end of the first and into this third a sort of "flowery" flavor could be detected. I have tasted something similar (and better IMO) in the Graycliff Professionale. The earthy tobacco flavor had mellowed out a bit and seemed to be combining with this flowery one. It made things intresting though as I was trying to figure out what I was detecting. Turns out I could not detect much more than this. Burn was still surprisingly good. Seemed like more smoke was also being produced.

3/3rd More of the same here. Ultimately thought that the flavor was intresting, pleasant and (just?) "Ok!". Also decided that it was also very one-dimensional but trying to be complex. Burn was still good and smoke was the same.

Final Impressions: Not a bad smoke. It strikes me as one that would be nice for a change of pace but not something that I would go out of my way looking for. It was similar to the professionale in that flowery taste but this flavor was no where near as strong or prominent as it was in the Pro. I should note that this smoke a very long finish. I could taste it in my mouth for about 1 hour to an 1 and a half after smoking it.

I hope you guys found this review helpful.

Stay strong and happy smokes.

[gvarsity]

Thanks for the review. I have seen enough mixed reviews on Graycliff that it is pretty far down my list of smokes to try particularly based on the value ratio. Thanks again.

[ikwanjin]

Nice review..

[c-poc]

Really well written review... great job

[TimButz2]

Nice Review, I won a 5ver as well and they are resting in one of the humis. I'll let you all know what I think when I fire one up.

[earnold25]

thanks for the review. For as much as Graycliff's cost, I rarely hear anything about them (other than sales pitches).

[Accident]

I had one with a couple years age on it and it was very good. Then the 2nd one from the same batch wasn't as good. I have 3 more that I'll burn to totally decide to buy or not.
Accident

[yayson]

Originally Posted by gvarsity

Thanks for the review. I have seen enough mixed reviews on Graycliff that it is pretty far down my list of smokes to try particularly based on the value ratio. Thanks again.

It's worth noting that the Legends series from CI is based on a challenge to name makers to produce something for the series that CI can sell for 5 bucks a pop.

I picked up a 5 pack a few months ago and I recall smoking 2, giving one away so I must have a few buried somewhere. I remember them being suprisingly mild. The second I enjoyed while I was working on the car so maybe a good yard gar, funny to say that with anything bearing the Graycliff label.

Never had a Graycliff proper but I assume these would not be truly representative of the "real" line

[ghost]

Originally Posted by TimButz2

Nice Review, I won a 5ver as well and they are resting in one of the humis. I'll let you all know what I think when I fire one up.

Please do Tim. I would be curious to see what you think. Too bad NY is in a DEEP FREEZE at the moment. Makes it difficult to go out for a smoke (at least for me).

I noticed that they tend to use an Indonesian wrapper for many of the sticks. I wonder if that it was produces that peculiar flavor (I describe it as a flowery)? I have some of Graycliffs blue, red and crystal. Giving them a year before trying away. Again, I have also noticed that there smokes tend to be very inconsistent.

[Mark THS]

Great review, I love your format.

[hurricane6]

are graycliffs really worth what you pay? i've heard alot about them, just not something that makes me want to drop that kind of $$$$$. good review!

[EvanS]

I've had 10 or the Purple's in the last 3 months...decent smoke but nothing I'd trip over myself to get more of. Plenty of other mild sticks out there that are more interesting for the <= $2 CBid price.

[ghost]

Thanks for all the kind words guys!

Originally Posted by hurricane6

are graycliffs really worth what you pay? i've heard alot about them, just not something that makes me want to drop that kind of $$$$$. good review!

As with everything else it is a matter of opinion. I know guys that absolutely love one brand or all the Graycliff lines. By the same token I believe you will find many people that think they are intresting but not worth the $$$. Personally, I think they are ok for something different every once and a while but so far none of the ones I have tried left me with such a lasting impression to the point that I will always seek one out. There are other sticks that are cheaper which I enjoy more.

With that said, if you have never tried any Graycliffs I think it is worth giving them a shot. If you are patient you can pick up a fiver on devil's for a decent price just to see what the fuss is all about.