Saturday reviews-January 29, 2011

Beautiful day! Temps in the mid 60's and sunny skies. It seems like it's been a long time since we had a nice weekend. Today I'm reviewing some house cigars from Famous Cigars. They are the Famous Signature Series by the Garcia Family and the Siboney Reserve, both made by Don Pepin Garcia.

This is my first time smoking these cigars and to get a better review I smoked a couple before doing this review.


Famous Signature Series by the Garcia Family robusto (5x50)

The Famous Signature Series by the Garcia Family uses a combination of Esteli and Condega Criollo Nicaraguan longfillers rolled with an additional Nicaraguan Habano and an Ecuadorian Sumatra leaf. A Nicaraguan Habano capa completes the blend.

The cigar started with rather heavy roasted almond notes in the spice with cinnamon tones, subtle grapefruit citrus, and pepper. It's odd to say "heavy roasted almond notes" in regards to a Don Pepin Garcia cigar, but that's exactly how this cigar started. The finish is long with notes of raw almonds.

At the 1/3 point there are more cinnamon notes in the spice.

At the midpoint not much has changed. Just past midpoint I noted more slightly sweet grapefruit citrus notes. The finish has added some vanilla notes to the raw almonds. From this point to the end the cigar stayed consistent. I found this cigar to be out of the norm for a Pepin. It did not have the massive citrus notes that other Pepin's have but it was enjoyable. The cigar was medium bodied.

Score: 87





Siboney Reserve robusto (5x50)

Siboney Reserve cigars are blended and handcrafted by the Don Pepin Garcia family at the My Father cigar factory in Esteli. A blend of Nicaraguan Jalapa and Condega Corojo longfillers, plus Nicaraguan Criollo '98 and Honduran Habano binders are rolled in plush Nicaraguan Habano Rosado wrappers with a gorgeous triple cap.

This cigar started off quite differently from the Famous Signature Series. Immediately after light up it had very peppery cinnamon with light vanilla notes. This is much more like a typical Pepin tastes! The finish is long with rich vanilla notes. There are also rich, sweet notes of grapefruit. After 1/2 inch I am really liking this cigar. The cigar has a lot of black pepper, which I like.

Approaching the midpoint the cinnamon notes come to the forefront. The citrus notes are still there, just subtle. As the cigar wound down it remained very peppery and the flavor was a nice mix of cinnamon, citrus, and light vanilla. I found this to be a very enjoyable cigar.

Score: 89