CI Legends Yellow Label (Pepin) toro

[BlackIrish]

The cigar: CI Legends Yellow Label (Pepin)Vitola: 5.75 x 54


The marketing (from CI):
Legends Pepin Garcia - Yellow Label: To keep it simple, Pepin Garcia is ‘blowing up.’ Famous for creating the heavily sought Tatuaje and Padilla Miami 8&11 brands, expect nothing short of spectacular from this intoxicating submission. Upon first glance, it’s easy to see Pepin’s Cuban heritage. The veiny, natural-colored wrappers and well-placed triple-caps. A spicy, earthy pre-light aroma. Handmade in his new Nicaraguan factory, this impressive blend utilizes Pepin’s prized, 1st Generation Habano seed tobaccos, all grown in the black soils of Nicaragua. The Corojo wrapper is top-notch, delivering a strong, spicy flavor even before the cigar is lit. Inside, a well-aged mixture of select Habano-seed long-fillers combine to deliver an assortment of satisfying flavors. Sit down before lighting, because this gem is a powerhouse. Expect a peppery burst of flavor upfront, which gradually mellows into chewy notes of wood and earth. This transition makes the cigar’s spicy character an afterthought, lingering long on the aftertaste urging you back for another puff. Naturally, construction is incredible. Enjoy the even, cool burn thanks to a beautiful, solid roll. Delicious.


Smoked this one out of AD720's excellent BTT. I was traveling on business, with no camera, so no pics. My bad.

Pre-light: A solid, hefty stick, firm to the touch. The natural corojo wrapper shows some veins. Aromas of spice from the foot. Clipped well, easy draw, with hints of pepper. Nicely rolled, with what looks like a triple cap.

Burn: this lit well and burned straight through the first third, with a firm ash. Ash started getting flakier in the second third, and it began to burn a bit unevenly -- nothing terrible, but some slight canoeing that required frequent touch ups. It looked like the ligero was not well-centered in the bunch. A slow burner, I smoked this toro for more than 90mins.

Flavor: Pepper upon lighting, layered over a core of sweetness. That flavor of peppery spice over sweetness stayed pretty consistent through the first third to half. The pepper stayed strong -- exhaling through the nose was, well, a bit invigorating, and the finish was rather drying. Needed water with this one.

In the second third, the pepper dropped off noticeably and the flavor rounded out to reveal more sweetness, maybe some caramel-ly notes. The burn slowed down quite a bit here. The burn picked up again in the last third, and with it the pepper returned and the sweetness faded. The flavor was all white peppery spice, tingling the lips and tongue.

Overall, a decent cigar with some real power. The flavor profile just wasn't quite right for me. The sweetness, pepper, and spice coalesced nicely in the second third, but they fell out of balance in the last third. Not a bad stick, mind you, but not a great one either.

[elderboy02]

Thank you for the review. I got one of these in the MAW/PIF and I can't wait to try it.

[Fumador]

I rec'd one in a sampler pack and put it off for a long time. I finally smoked and enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Skywalker]

I smoke these often! I really enjoy the flavor of this affordable cigar!!!

Thank you for the very honest review!!!

[AD720]

Like I said in the BTT thread, these are really the only Pepin blend that I keep going back to over and over, I think it is the best combination of spice and other flavors, where I feel most of the DPG blends I've have are all pepper.

nice review!

i got a 10 pack of these chilling in the coolador.. smoked 2 of them so far and have to agree, nice dpg blend at a good price!

It is a decent Pepin cigar for the price.

[BlackIrish]

I'm wondering whether the one I got just wasn't the best example of the line, given the burn/construction problem I noted. The flavor in the 2/3 was really promising, and I think I need to try another to see if a better rolled sigar would smoke better.

BlackIrish