Cigar Review: Garcia & Garcia, My Father Le Bijou 1922

Petite Robusto, 4.5" x 54 ring gauge, $7.35 This review was written the day before I got to meet the man behind the cigar: Don Pepin Garcia. The event was for the My Father cigars, so I opted to try my first "My Father" cigar. As luck would have it, the one in my humidor was a "Le Bijou 1922," the cigar that Garcia created to honor his father who was born in 1922. "Le Bijou" means "the Jewel" and this is supposed to be the best to date in this line from the Garcia family. It is a Nicaraguan puro with a very rare Pelo del Oro/Habano Oscuro wrapper that is reportedly very difficult to successful grow. The bands are very ornate on this gem and cover over half the stick. What wrapper that is visible is very dark and oily with just a little toothiness. The aroma bursts out when the cigar is freed of its cellophane prison: a heavy dose of barnyard along with some cocoa and hay. From the foot, there was even more barnyard and compost. The prelight draw was just a bit tight; the flavors are rich chocolate and dried fruit and it left a spicy tingle on the lips. I had heard that this cigar starts out unlike pretty much anything on the market, and that was not a lie. Just the first few puffs were herbal, floral and leathery-all at the same time! The retrohale was harsh yet flavorful. This Habano Oscuro wrapper definitely has heavy, meaty flavors right from the start. The first third-almost half, actually, as it's a short cigar-of the Bijou is meaty and mouth-coating with a body that is practically off the scale. There was a lot of woody and leather while the herbal and floral notes played a more supporting role. During the second third, the cigar developed a canoe that had to be touched up. It was still very full-bodied, but the herbal and floral undertones gave way to bloack coffee and roasted nuts. The burn line problem did not go away in the last segment, forcing me to put down the stick early. In all, this cigar was unlike anything I have had from Don Pepin Garcia. It was very leathery with lots of interesting supporting flavors. It was very full in body with a mouth-coating smoke and the only spice I picked up on the retrohale. I would love to try it in a different vitola and hope the construction issues not arise again. Body: 10/10 Strength: 8/10 Complexity: 8/10 AFP Scale: Prelight: 2/2 Construction: 1/2 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 1/1 Total: 8/10