Perdomo Grand Cru Habano (6.5" x 54)

Offered up for consideration this afternoon is the Perdomo Grand Cru (PGC) that was smoked last week while I played the back 9 at the country club I normally wouldn't be invited to. In my previous post I discussed the CAO that was enjoyed on the front 9, and this cigar certainly was a decent, not stunning, but decent followup to the first cigar for the day.

I am sorry about the picture, the ones taken with cigar in hand on the golf course ended up being blurry and unusable, so a lousy pic of the band taken on my desk is the best I can offer today.

In my last post I discussed the lighter issues I was having, as such rather than slowly roast the PGC, it was lit in a hurry given the lighter was dying on me. I burnt the wrapper creating a very strong charring that was carried through to the palate during the first 5-10 minutes of smoking this cigar. Once past the char the PGC settled in a strong, spicy and at times almost harsh flavor. The habano wrapper, one of my favorites exhibited a fair amount of balance to the spicy harshness, and a slight hint of, oh whats the best to describe it. Let me do it this way, imagine a steak that was overcooked to begin with, and upon taking the first bite or two you are met with over seasoning as well, like some one went nuts with the pepper grinder.

That is the essence I got here, like someone went nuts with the pepper grinder. Was it bad, no. Was it good, no. Was it smokable, yeah, especially since this was a golf course smoke. The spicy profile remained throughout the cigar, additional or enhanced flavor development was non-existant. The cigar smoked well, unevenly but that is something I will chalk up to the lousy way it was lit.

Whereas the CAO smoked earlier in the day was granted a pass given the lighter problems I was having, this cigar really didn't earn the same luxury. It offered up a smoking experience, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

I guess life hits that point where good cigars start to separate themselves from OK or simply decent cigars. The spicy flavor is fine, the harshness is in part to blame on my lighter, but the overall experience didn't spur that overwhelming desire to share this particular smoke with friends.

So where do we go from here?

I can't say I was disappointed as I had no expectations of anything other than trying something new. Past experience with other Perdomo cigars were great, in particular the Lot 23, and I am confident others will be great as well. The PGC just didn't do a great job.

Of course taste is up to the smoker, and you may love the PGC. For me it just didn't deliver. Of course neither did my game on the back 9, thankfully I don't have to make a living playing golf. In the end the one promise the PGC did deliver on is the ability of a smoking experience amongst friends to unite. And unite the PGC did, in our case it brought together 4 friends who suck at golf and allowed them to spend an afternoon just hanging out and having fun.

So as I look back on the day, I don't think of the not so great experience smoking the PGC, rather I look at the day as a whole and recognize the PGC just happened to be a small but enjoyable part of the day.

Until we smoke again.