GAR Opium
I’m back again my soon to be loyal readers. My first blog went over well with the men upstairs, so I get to keep on smoking. So the smoke that I will be ranting about today is the Opium created by George A. Rico.
First look is very nice, it has a deep reddish brown color that is very appealing to the eye and has an almost old school Cuban feel. There are one or two larger veins running through the cigar. Which just means that the cigar is not truly perfect but damn close. It snipped perfectly which as anyone who smokes knows is very important. I used a double blade cutter, if you don’t have one get one! No point in destroying a great smoke because you are using cheap tools.
Most of this cigar is straight from Nicaraguan seed, but a neat change is the wrapper which is a Nicaraguan Habano corojo hybrid wrapper. This is why it has such a appealing coloring. First puff has good strong notes with hints of spice and pepper. I love when a first puff starts off with full flavor and a bit of kick. It makes your brain link to a primal side when men drank liquor straight and cigars had not been introduced to flavors and infusions, god the old days that I long for. The flavor stays steady and builds as the smoke burns towards the end. The burn was not perfect but close, there was a slight uneven burning, but nothing so drastic that it did not even out on its own.
Construction: 13 points
Band: 3 Points
First Puff: 10 points
Draw: 13 points
Flavor: 16 points
Aroma: 6 points
Ash: 5 points
Value: 13 Points
Total Points: 79
This smoke was great I am a huge Nicaraguan fan, the flavor hit every note that I wanted it too. However I understand that the rich oily full flavor with strong notes of pepper are not what every one wants in their smokes. It’s a great value around 7 dollars a stick depending on the size. I will be picking up a box of these bad boys the next chance I get. However if you like your smokes to taste like vanilla or infused with artificial flavor, leave this bad boy alone he hits on the full flavor range.
Take a look at what my old man has to say about this cigar.