La Fontana Vintage Galileo

[Zanaspus]

So I got my big box of "cheapies" from Famous yesterday pursuant to my attempt to find good budget smokes. I smoked a Sancho Panza double maduro ROTT. You were all correct.

This morning, it was La Fontana Vintage Galileo. A $2 "mild" stick that I wasn't expecting much from but decided to throw in anyway.

THE BAD:
The cigar seems somewhat underfilled. The cap is sweetened which I expected to annoy me to no end, however, after I punched it and took a few dry draws, the entire cap fell off exposing binder. That problem solved! The ash is flaky and does not want to give itself up when tapped.

THE GOOD:
So, given the above, this was a horrible experience, right? Hold on just a bit. I fired it up and thought to myself, "did someone play a joke and play tricks on a DPG cigar!? Pepper, and lots of it, both black and red forced a quick smile to appear on my unsuspecting face. This pepper mingled with a nice woody quality. The taste was one note. The whole stick was a melange of pepper and wood, but it was one helluva good note!

To sum it up, if you are a heavy chomper, I could see this stick self-destructing before your eyes, but if you take a kinder, gentler approach to a cigar, I don't forsee any problems. This is a mild-bodied, full-flavored smoke if that makes any sense. And talk about value! For two dollars, I know I've found a go-to morning cigar. This isn't one to sit down with after a big meal, but for a morning, kick around and read the paper kind of beauty, this stick delivers and how.

[OHRD]

Thanks for the review; I'm a value hunter these days too. Have you found any other good values in your pursuit? From Famous, the Conuco is really good. I've found a few other winners on the value hunt: the 5 Vegas line, Cigar.com's house blends, Corona's Nicaraguan House Blend, Cu Avana, and AF Curly Head are all around $2 or so a stick...

[Zanaspus]

I smoked a Famous private selection Domincan and Nicarauguan yesterday. The Dominican was awesome, the Nic, I'll have to revisit after some humi time. This is all strange as I'm way more of a Nic than a DR fan. Sol Cubano maduros also hit my wheelhouse. Keep me updated in your search, I'll do likewise.

[OHRD]

I've also heard great things about the Nica Libre, especially if you like Padron; I've got a couple in my humi that I'm waiting to fire up. A box is around $50.