Cigar Review: Painkiller Maduro by GTO Cigars

Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5” x 52 ring gauge
Price ~$8
Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

One of the revelations of the 2013 Chattanooga Tweet-Up was GTO Cigars, based in Birmingham, Alabama, and owned by Dr. Oscar Rodriguez (or “Orod” as he likes to be called). I really got to talk with Orod more after the Tweet-Up when he sent me some samples from his lines for review back on the old blog. I came away impressed by the experience; GTO specializes in 100% Dominican blends and yet they mostly come off as something totally different from “traditional” Dominican cigars like Fuente or La Aurora. And they aren’t quite the same as the Ligero-packed offerings from La Flor Dominicana, either, in that Orod wants his cigars to be more about relaxing than challenging your ability to smoke full-bodied cigars. Something different then…and each size was a different blend, made specifically to work in that size.

A few months back, Oscar contacted me about this year’s Tweet-Up and indicated that he had talked with Matt at Burns already and that we were going to be carrying his cigars by the time of the big event. It took a little bit of time, but we finally did get select cigars from the GTO Cigars line into Burns in late June, including some from the new “Pain Killer” line. Pain Killer encompasses two Maduro vitolas and one Corojo. Today I’m looking at the Robusto Maduro; I’ll take a look at the Corojo in a separate review.

Pain Killer uses Dominican Ligero filler, Dominican grown Cuban seed binder leaf, and a “Select Aged Maduro” Dominican leaf for the wrapper. Oscar associates the Pain Killer blend with the Day of the Dead holiday; the website says it better than I can…

It is a popular holiday in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Central America. The people of the Dominican Republic use this holiday to celebrate life in honor of their deceased relatives and friends. Family members and friends make altars, some containing flowers, water, food, fire and tobacco (see image at left as an example of an in-home altar to remember and celebrate the deceased friends and family). Many altars display items that were important to the deceased and prepare elaborate feasts, after visiting the grave sites, as a way of almost joining the living world and the world of the spirits for the day. This is not a sad or somber holiday, but rather one that is happy and colorful. The holiday is celebrated with family and community gatherings, music, and feasting, and the festivity of its observance acknowledges death as an integral part or life. Festivals and parades are held as observers present flowers, light bonfires, eat, drink and smoke cigars as a gesture of honor and respect.

I smoked the Toro vitola of this cigar first, then smoked the Robusto for this review the next day. I purchased both at Burns Tobacconist.

Prelight

One criticism that Oscar mentioned hearing was that all his bands are identical. That is true and it can lead to confusion. He recommends people pay attention to the color of the box they got the cigar they liked from as all his lines are color-coded in terms of boxes…but that won’t work if the store takes them out of the original boxes for some reason. The other thing he has done to alleviate confusion is add a secondary band with the Pain Killer line…and I think that is a good idea. The banding, from paper quality to use of foil to fonts, is fairly basic…it’s not a bad look, but neither is it a “top shelf” look and feel. Of course, we aren’t paying top shelf prices here, either.

The wrapper was a chocolatey brown with some dark mottling and a very oily look and feel. Oscar promised in his speech to the Havana Room members that he doesn’t cook or paint his wrappers and he never rolls them in mineral oil or anything else, so the dark shade and copious oils are impressive. Giving it a sniff, I picked up on a manurey earthiness and a touch of leather. the foot had more wet earthiness. The cold draw was excellent and tasted of earth with a touch of chocolate sweetness.

Flavor

The Pain Killer took some extra flame to get completely ignited. Apparently the leaves used in this blend hold more moisture than average, because I had the same experience with the Toro vitola. Once I did get it fully and evenly lit, the cigar started off with lots of earth and a bit of cedar and red pepper on the palate, while the retrohale was more nutty with a medium amount of pepper burn. As the first third burned along, the flavor started to become more dominated by unsweetened cocoa powder, dry earth, and dark roast coffee, with a bit of dried fruit or raisin to balance it with some sweetness.

In the second third, the coffee notes came through much more strongly, accompanied by an increase in body from medium to medium-plus. The pepper spice diminished on both palate and nose, but still hung around to make things interesting.

The last third was earthy mostly with lingering notes of coffee and cocoa powder and an increasing spice that was more of a Cayenne pepper this time around.

Construction

I’ve had almost universal success with the construction of GTO Cigars. The burn line was very even, the ash was solid and the draw was flawless.

Value

The price tag on all GTO Cigars is very fair, especially considering the small runs they produce.

Conclusions

The GTO Pain Killer was truly a unique Dominican cigar, full-bodied and full-flavored without being full strength. It was perfect for those times when I want something fuller without having to worry about having too much nicotine in the process. A very, very nice smoke and definitely one to put on your list. You can get them at Burns Tobacconist, 423-855-5200.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10