Cigar Review: 601 Red

Toro, 6" x 50 ring gauge

The 601 Red is made by Don Pepin Garcia for United Tobacco. It is a Nicaraguan puro with a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper. I decided to try this one after having smoked the 601 Green and enjoying it. I must confess that I have "gotten over" the hype of every new (or newly discovered) cigar that Pepin Garcia creates for someone; some of his cigars (like the Tatuaje Brown, Tabacos Baez, and San Cristobal) I have really enjoyed; others (Tatuaje Red and his own brand Cuban Classic and Series JJ) I really haven't. So for me, a Pepin Garcia cigar is no guarantee of anything.

The prelight appearance of this cigar was mostly smooth, with very light veins and a little lumpiness in places. It had a slight oily sheen that came off a bit on the fingers, too. There was not a huge amount of aroma from the body of the cigar, just a little earth; the foot had more aroma, though, with coffee and cocoa notes. The prelight draw tasted like rich, dark chocolate.

After lighting, the flavor was rich with coffee and muted chocolate and just a bit of honey (not the candy bar, mind you). The flavor was fairly full and so was the body, although the volume of smoke was less than I would prefer--I wondered if this could be due to the cut. It only took an inch for me to come to the following decision: this is my favorite Pepin Garcia blend! It has a great, full flavor and just a little bit of spice emerging by this time.

After tapping ash the first time, I re-clipped the end, allowing for the greater volume of smoke that I needed so I wouldn't huff-and-puff my way through the stick. By this point the spiciness on the finish was creeping up in intesity and so was the body of the cigar.

By the time the first third was done, the spice and pepper is the predominant flavor, with some coffee still there, but the chocolate/cocoa seems to be gone completely. After starting off in the medium-to-full bodied range, it moved on up to be a full-blown, full-bodied smoke. The burn was not perfectly even, but no major problems, either.

In the final analysis, this was a great full-bodied, full-flavored, strong cigar. It has a nice complexity, ramping up the body, spice and strength as you go rather than hitting you over the head at the outset. Definitely a nice after-dinner smoke and definitely not for lightweights and newbies. I think I may have found myself a new "top 10" cigar! Check out these numbers...yes, that's a perfect "10" on the AFP scale below!!!

Body: 9/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 9/10

AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 10/10