Jaime Garcia Sur Oeste Robusto Review

[Cardinal]

Cigar: Jaime Garcia Sur Oeste
Size: Robusto 5" x 50
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: MSRP ~$7.00

Initial Impression/Prelight
The Sur Oeste has a medium-brown wrapper with some tiny veins and a light oily sheen. I picked up some hay aroma from the wrapper. After I clipped the triple-cap, I was surprised to find a very open draw with flavors of dried fruit and some spices - I've come to anticipate pepper and more 'forward' flavors from Don Pepin & Co. cigars.

If my research is correct, this cigar is from a 2011/2012 release (more on that later), and has been in my humidor for 5 months at 65%.



1st Third
I immediately found that pepperiness I expected, in the form of a mild white pepper, but by far the dominant flavor initially was nuttiness. Again, not at all what I expected, but it was great. The smoke was incredibly smooth, and I got some latte-type coffee flavor as well. The draw stayed loose, but not unacceptably so - at least it produced a ton of smoke, although it also burned pretty fast.



2nd Third
The smoke stayed silky smooth, and even retrohaling brought only the tiniest tingle of pepper. The dominant flavors were coffee and cream, with just a hint of cedar at the back of the throat. Solidly medium flavor, and mild-medium strength to this point.



Final Third
The last section continued with lots of creaminess, coffee and light pepper, along with a hint of graham cracker and nuts. The wrapper was a bit thin and tore when I removed the band, but no harm done - the cigar kept smoking like a champ.



Overall Impression
Creamy. Goodness.

• The main band is the same as the Connecticut Broadlead-wrapper Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial - the only thing that differentiates this cigar (aside from the obviously different wrapper leaf) is a silver cloth band at the foot.
• My google-fu turned up fairly limited information on this cigar, but what I did find says that this is one of Pepin's regional releases from back in 2012. Sur Oeste is Spanish for Southwest, and apparently this one was released to retailers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and a few other states. I found it in a B&M in Arkansas on a visit there last Christmas.
• This cigar smoked really fast - I think I only went a little over an hour, vs. my normal hour and a half for a robusto.
• On the positive side, it put out smoke like crazy.
• Guess I already said it, but this wasn't what I was expecting from a My Father cigar or a Nicaraguan puro. It was honestly tough to wrap my head around it at first, but I got over it.
• Feels like I'm giving a lot of high scores lately, but this was just another good cigar.


I ran into a review from 2012 on another website while I was trying to find out more about this cigar, and the reviewer's main complaint was about the heavy cedar. If this specimen was indeed from that release (and I think it was, given I didn't see anything about 2013/14 releases), then I can tell you that this cigar is in a sweet spot right now. I'd rank this among my top few 'morning smokes', as it finished up mild-medium strength at best. The flavors weren't particularly complex, and never intense, but that coffee-and-cream flavor throughout was just plain good.

I don't know how to get more, but next time I'm in Arkansas I'm going to check that B&M to see if they have more stock. If you like smooth and creamy and you run into these somewhere, you should definitely grab a few. I'd recommend a 5-er at least, and if you like mild-medium then you'd do well with a box.

[Brimy]

Nice review of a great cigar!
Thanks Brother.