Cigar Info
The Paul Garmirian | 25th Anniversary Connoisseur was launched in 2015 as a celebration of Paul Garmirian starting his cigar company. The line had only one vitola, the 6 x 52 toro called Connoisseur.
According to the company the cigar took two years to develop, has a fully fermented wrapper and fits between the company’s other offerings.
Paul Garmirian 25th Anniversary Connoisseur Details:
- Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
- Factory: Occidental Cigar Factory
- Wrapper: Undisclosed
- Binder: Undisclosed
- Filler: Undisclosed
- Size: 6 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 52
- Vitola: Toro
- MSRP: $19
- Cigars Released: 1,250 Boxes of 20 Cigars (25,000 Total Cigars)
Pre-light
A slightly darker than milk chocolate wrapper coats the cigar that is very smooth to the touch and non-oily. There’s a well applied triple cap and overall a nice weight; but this isn’t a particularly handsome cigar. A slight barnyard note can be found on the wrapper and it’s one of the firmest cigars I’ve felt in awhile. The foot has a dark chocolate, mild pepper, and slight nuttiness which is also similar in the pre-draw.
First Third
The first few puffs are deep rich notes of tobacco and strong pepper. There’s a bright pepper and heavy cream on the retro-hale. After the first few puffs leather and cedar start to creep in. The burn is a little off but it looks like it will correct itself. The smoke output is super impressive. I’m creating large thick clouds of smoke that just linger in the air. After about a quarter inch there’s a bright citrus note that adds a new depth to the profile.
Second Third
The rich leather is still large and in charge this third with an ever impressive level of smoke output. A sweet and salty dark chocolate, mineral, and bitter almond occasionally sneak that kinda reminds me of an adult candy bar. At about the halfway point the burn finally evens up for the first time; it didn’t require a relight or touch up but it got pretty wonky at points.
Final Third
The level of pepper kicks in high gear for the conclusion. There’s more of a revolving door of flavors from the previous two thirds. Moments of chocolate and leather or salt and lime fight for dominance and I feel like the real winner in this fight. There’s always a long finish of almond and cedar. The strength has also increased from the previous thirds and now sits squarely on the full spectrum.
Overall Impressions
It kinda caught me off guard how slow this cigar was burning. I was about an hour and twenty minutes in and only halfway done. The burn was pretty wavy and I was tempted to touch it up a few times but let it run its course and it started burning razor sharp after the halfway point. The draw was just a tad looser that I normally like but the quality and quantity of smoke was unreal. The end kinda left my head spinning and I’m glad I had eaten before I started this review or I would have been in trouble. If you enjoy slow burning, strong, rich cigars I highly recommend picking up a few to try.
-Alan(Eulogy)
Author