Alright, so I know I’m a little behind the times as this is my first experience with the G.A.R. line-up.  And for what I paid for these puppies, my first thought is that they better be worth it.  There’s not much information out about these cigars yet, though according to the G.A.R. website “there’s more to come.”  The G.A.R. is the brainchild of George A. Rico, hence the name of the cigar.  It’s his initials… get it?  An Ecuadorian corojo wrapper surrounds the Ecuadorian Connecticut binder and Nicaraguan filler.  At 6×54, this isn’t a small torpedo: it’s stout.  Let’s get to it.

Appearance: I’m not a fan of the cheap-looking band, but then a band doesn’t make the cigar does it?  Though it does help with the overall experience.  It’s kinda cool that it’s at the foot of the cigar, and it is easy to get off, so there’s that.  I was impressed with the wrap though.  It’s a nice tight wrap; seamless almost.  The wrapper has no tooth and minimal veins.  The cap on this torpedo was perfect.

Taste: It took a little bit to get this thing lit because of the amount of tobacco in this stick (see Construction), but once it was going it started out with a mild woody floral flavor with the tiniest hint of spice.  This is supposed to be a full-bodied cigar, but it never really got there.  It maintained some sweet floral notes and the woodiness, but the two I smoked just were off.  Toward the end, the strength jumped to a medium body and some leather kicked in, but I could tell these weren’t reaching their full potential.

Aroma: This thing had almost a musty wood smell to it before I lit it.  It wasn’t an extremely strong smell, but the mustiness was noticeable.  As for the smoke, try and smell it if you dare.  I was affronted with the strength when I wafted too much smoke towards my nose and ended up with watery eyes for my efforts.  When I recovered and was able to gently direct some smoke my way, I found that it actually had a sweet scent to it; quite pleasant.  Just don’t take too much at once.

Construction: Okay, this thing is a brick shithouse.  Seriously.  The draw was tight also which came as no surprise when I hefted this thing out of the humidor.  It’s the heaviest cigar I’ve ever seen for its size.  They definitely want to give you your money’s worth when it comes to the amount of tobacco they use, but it’s detrimental to the overall smoke.  A cigar that has too much tobacco or is too tightly rolled, and in this case, both, just doesn’t smoke well.

Overall Impression: I smoke two sticks of a cigar for each review just to make sure I didn’t get a bad one.  Well, in this case, I must have gotten two bad ones.  Both were the same: too tight, too much tobacco, and not a good smoke.  I feel that there’s some goodness below, though, because of the sweet floral flavors it exhibited.  I just think there may be some inconsistencies in the rolling and quality processes at the factory.  I won’t completely close the door on the G.A.R. just yet, but they do need to work on their quality.  At $9 a stick for these, you should get quality when you pay for it.

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“This is the newest edition from Olor Del Cibao. It is a box-pressed, cuban-seed cigar that has the beautiful construction and flavors that you might expect from Olor Del Cibao. However, the long-leaf filler tobacco has been aged in Jose Cuervo 1800 Tequila for weeks. This cigar is not what your typical flavored cigar might taste like because the wrapper is not flavored or aged in Tequila. The Olor Del Cibao Tequila Aged Cigar has hints of Tequila and a wonderful aroma. Each cigar is hand made and over 40 hands touch this cigar before the finished product is smoked. You can compare these to the Acid line of cigars that used Sauza Tequila if you like, but the truth is that they are a little different because the Sauza Tequila cigar is flavored.

If you’re looking for a great smoke with a hint of Tequila – these cigars are for you!”

Here’s what I thought about the cigar:

Country: Dominican Republic
Length/Ring: 7 x 54
Shape: Box-Press
Wrapper: Natural Cuban Seed
Strength: Mild

Pre-light: As I ran this cigar across my nose, I got a nice smell of pure tobacco and tequila of all things! It was smelling good, and I was ready to give this thing a shot. As I clipped my cigar with my Palio cutter and took a pre-light draw, I got those same hints of tobacco and tequila. Being a lover of tequila it seemed as though I was going to enjoy this smoke.

1/3: As I lit up this cigar, and started to smoke it, I noticed the draw was a little tight, but I was still getting a respectable amount of smoke and flavor out of the cigar. The flavors were exactly the same as I got on pre-light draw. I had a pure tobacco taste, with a hint of tequila. To some, this might seem strange, but I was enjoying it. It seemed to go well with the beer I was drinking at the time. The ash was holding fairly tight, but the burn was starting to wave just a tad.

2/3: Not much has changed with this cigar at this point. I was a little dissapointed, as the wrapper cracked near the head of the cigar, and also near the foot. The wrapper was starting to unravel at the head and foot, and was generally just not comfortable in my mouth. The taste got sort of bland at this point, but the tequila taste was still there in the background. The burn was crooked and the cigar was canoeing big time. I tried to correct the burn numerous times, but it didn’t seem to be helping.

3/3: I didn’t get all the way down to the nub on this cigar, only because I had a dud that cracked and swelled. It got to the point toward the end that it just was not comfortable to smoke due to the cracking, and crazy uneven burn. From the portion that I did smoke, I was still getting a pure tobacco flavor, with that slight hint of Tequila. Here is where I just had to put it down:

Overall Impression: Overall, the flavors were decent, but because of the wrapper cracking and the horrible burn, I wasn’t able to enjoy this cigar to the fullest. That being said, I need to pick up a couple more to try, as I think this might have just been a fluke. If you like tequila and cigars, I’d urge you to head to Tex Cigars to pick up some of these! I’m gonna pick up a few more to try, hoping this one was a dud.

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Wrapper: Barber Pole Maduro/Corojo
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras/Pre-embargo
Strength: Medium to Full body

Pre-light: As I ran the cigar the length of my nose, I was getting a lot of different smells. The predominant smell was a nice cocoa flavor, with a touch of the peppery Camacho spice that I’d come to love. From the smell alone, I could tell I though I was for sure going to enjoy this smoke. I clipped the foot of this cigar with my trusty Palio, as usual. As I took a pre-light draw, I was a bit disappointed. The draw felt VERY loose. It felt as though I was sucking through a straw. I dismissed the loose draw and lit up with my Ronson Jetlite.

1/3: As I got started on the first third, the first thing I noticed was a little bit of spice, with some very slight cocoa and leather flavors. As I continued down the smoke, it seemed as though the cocoa flavors went away and it was just a very slight hint of spice. Even though the weather was perfect out, there was no wind, and I took extreme care in lighting this cigar, the burn was REALLY leaving something to be desired. It was crooked and ugly.

2/3: I continued to smoke this cigar, and still felt like I was just sucking air through a straw. I wasn’t getting too much smoke, or flavors for that matter. The cigar continued to give me a very slight spice flavor, but that was about it. The burn was still disappointing. It may have something to do with the “barber pole” type cigar. Maybe the two different wrappers burn at different rates, but I wasn’t impressed so far.

3/3: I continued sucking through this straw that Camacho calls a cigar as I got to the last third. Nothing changed with this cigar all the way through this portion. All I was getting was a decent amount of smoke, and a little spice or pepper flavors. The burn still continued to burn a little ragged. All in all, I was very disappointed with this cigar. With all the hype behind it, and the fancy presentation, you’d think it would have more flavor and complexity, and that it would burn a little bit better. I also was not really impressed with the construction of this cigar. As I said, it was like sucking air through a straw. The bands on the new Camacho cigars are really nice, but perhaps Camacho should pay a little more attention to the flavors and construction of their cigars.

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Appearance: This is an average looking cigar. It won’t scream expensive and it doesn’t particularly scream tasty either. Its Connecticut wrapper is well wrapped even if it’s a dull matte that doesn’t show any hints of oils. There are few light veins, but all in all it’s quite a smooth-looking cigar.

Taste: This is where we start to have a problem. This is a mild cigar that has the signature Connecticut flavors of cedar and leather. Unfortunately, there was an unpleasant tannic undertone that followed each puff that only grew in intensity as I smoked this down. It overpowered any of the flavors and it has a finish that stays with you.

Aroma: Pre-light this had a slight grassy smell with a sweetness. The smoke, of which there was plenty, was light and not harsh.

Construction: Feeling along the body of this stick showed some inconsistencies. It was looser in some parts than in others and this showed in the burn which would turn haggard then correct itself and then turn haggard again. The loose ash was deceptively tricky as it would fall off onto my shirt even when it looked tight enough to hold for another puff. The draw was decent: not too loose, not too tight. I think that this could have been rolled better.

Overall: The tannic taste overpowered this cigar and made it too harsh to smoke. I had to put it down with a little more than two inches left. The construction problem could just be indicitive of this stick since I only had one to do the review with, but it was definitely a case of a poorly rolled cigar. At about $4 a stick it might be a bit too pricy to be a golf cigar for those of you that golf. I won’t judge the whole Olor de Cibao on this one stick, but so far the showing isn’t where I expected it to be.

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Now, I’m not much of a mild cigar smoker, but when I want something light for maybe an early morning smoke, you can bet that the original Casa Torano is what I’m reaching for more often than not. Now, add the fact that I’m a big time maduro lover and this cigar should be a match made in heaven, right? Let’s see…

Size: 4 3/4×52 Origin: Honduras Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, DR Binder: Proprietary Wrapper: Maduro

Appearance: First of all, I think the Casa Torano band is one of the most beautiful out there right now. It’s even more beautiful against the dark maduro wrapper. The wrapper itself is dark, very dark. Slightly mottled, this wrapper wasn’t the best looking specimen. It had some holes and a few slight tears in it. Still, overall, a very appealing cigar from the outside.

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Origin: Dominican Filler: Dominican Binder: Dominican Wrapper: Dominican Sun Grown Size: 5×50

Appearance: This is an average looking cigar. The band was plain, but you can’t judge a cigar on its band, right? Nothing too pretentious, but nothing that said ‘dog rocket’ either. The wrapper looked good. There were no blemishes, it looked well wrapped, with no veins. Very smooth and seamless.

Taste: This is where we start to have a problem. After cutting this, I took a pre-light draw and got no distinct flavors except for a light tobacco taste. After lighting it, it was all downhill from there. From the get-go, ammonia was very much the case for this cigar. I’m not sure what the aging before release for sale is on these, but these cigars are still very young. Ammonia covered the flavor of this cigar pretty well, except for the tobacco flavor, but about half way through it mellowed out a bit to let some leather and pepper through. The ammonia definitely stayed on my lips throughout the smoke. I wish this had been the case with only one of the samples, but that wasn’t the case.

Aroma: Before lighting, the wrapper smelled lightly of earth and the foot smelled of chocolate. After lighting, the smoke smelled harsh, almost like cigarette smoke. Not pleasant.

Construction: Feeling the cigar, it was rolled loosely. And, there were inconsistencies throughout. There were a few softer spots, a few harder spots. Just looking at the foot you could tell the loose construction. Though, the loose roll itself may have been done for the sake of the draw, it was not evenly done through the stick.

Overall: I’ll give every cigar a second chance. I’ll have to get a few more samples and let them rest for a year before I come back to this one and see what its potential really is. Maybe I got the only bad sticks that they had at the RTDA, or the people who are selling them are saying good things just to sell them. The only good things I have to say about this cigar is that despite the apparent construction problems, it burned rather well, and it produced an insane volume of smoke, which is something I like in my cigars. If you can blow smoke rings, this will be one you can have fun with if you can stand the rest.

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