First Impression – 601 “Red Label”
The title says it all. I’ve never had this cigar before this review was written. I generally like to smoke at least two cigars before doing a review. If I simply don’t have that 2nd or 3rd cigar, I try to make a note in the review. As always, I rummaged through the small humidor and dug this out. After asking around, it turns out my pal Matt gave this to me awhile ago. You remember him, we did this review awhile back. I’m pairing up with water and a touch of Glenfiddich 18 year scotch. The scotch really helps cleanse the palate. Since this is a first impression review, I’ll need all the help I can get. On to the review…
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Natural
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: Robusto 5 x 50
Price: Around $7.00
Pre-smoke & Construction:
The smooth, tan wrapper looked nice and refined. There were no noticeable soft spots in the cigar either. I could only detect a woody smell when sniffing the wrapper. I got a combination of wood and pepper when sniffing the foot. The pre-light draw was free, and had notes of hay and grass. The burn only required a few touch up’s, and the ash was flaky, only lasting about a half of an inch.
Flavor:
Smooth peppery notes kicked off the first third. Next up was cedar, a decent amount of it. Cocoa and earthy flavors kicked in as I progressed through this third. Simple, full bodied, and good.
The second third started off with a reduction in pepper. Earthy flavors increased slightly at times, as did the mocha. As I reached the end of the 2nd third, the pepper transformed into a sweet somewhat spicy flavor.
The last third went well in to the full bodied spectrum. Mocha and woody flavors were in the front of the flavor profile. A sweet smoothness combined with earthiness to fill up the remaining space. The smoke became thick and coated the mouth. Very full bodied and creamy.
Conclusion:
Now a bad full bodied cigar! This isn’t a WOW cigar by any means, but it definitely was not bad at all. Considering this was the first time I’ve tried the 601 Red label, it went well and I will try this again.
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cigar Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Stan aka SoCal32 on Stogiereview Fan Forum June 18th, 2009 at 9:46 am
CWS:I believe the green is the fullest of the 601 line.
Tom: Save those 601 labels! You can send them in for a pretty cool 601 shirt if you save 25. Oh and nice review, I love the 601 red robustos.