601 Green Label
I don’t consider myself a Don Pepin Garcia fan boy, but you’d probably think different after reading some reviews on this site. After enjoying the 601 Red Label recently, I had to try some of the other Pepin blended 601 cigars. The green label seemed to be the next logical choice. I wonder if this will live up to my expectations. Let’s see what happened when I grabbed my usual glass of water and sat down with the 601 Green Label.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Oscuro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Tronco 5×52
Price: 5 – $6.00
Pre-smoke & Construction:
Inspecting the wrapper, I found it visually appealing. The dark wrapper had a few veins and I could see glimmering specks of oil. This thing was well on it’s way to having plume. Squeezing the cigar, I found a couple tight spots, but otherwise was consistently packed with tobacco. Sniffing the wrapper revealed a grassy, earthy, sweet natural tobacco scent. The foot had minimal smell, with slight sweet earthy notes. Clipping the cap, I found the draw was a bit too snug, but I could live with it. The pre-light draw had a rich earthy taste with hints of pepper.
The ash was solid, taking effort to knock off after letting it get to a couple inches in length. The burn required no corrections, and the tight draw loosened up a bit to a more acceptable level.
Flavor:
The first third… Right after I lit up, I was hit with pepper. Note I wasn’t “Blasted” with pepper. It was rather smooth and easy to smoke. Shortly afterwards, dry mocha notes came into the flavor profile. To rap things up, a sweet cinnamon-ish spice rounded everything out.
The second third went well. That familiar pepper combined with that spicy sweet cinnamon and had a bit of a bite. Don’t get me wrong, there was no harshness, but this definitely isn’t a beginner cigar. The mocha remained fairly strong as well, while hints of nuttiness lingered. Full bodied and nice…
The last third did a similar thing that the red label did. Instead of intensifying, the strength actually calmed down a bit. All the while, the body picked up the pace a little if that makes sense. I guess what I mean is the nicotine punch calmed a little, while the flavors stood out more. About the flavors… Dry mocha remained with a sweet spice and pepper. The pepper helped retain a little punch but not over the top. Nutty flavors increased as well and rounded out the flavor profile.
Conclusion:
This was a good cigar that went into the full bodied range. I wouldn’t give this to a beginner or occasional smoker though. But for those who enjoy medium and full bodied cigars, I’d recommend this without hesitation. Pepin – You’ve done it again!
