Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5.25″ x 50 ring gauge
Price $11.99
Purchased at Maxamar’s Cigars
Background
Today I’ll be looking at the latest release from Warped cigars, the Serie Gran Reserva 1988, which celebrates the birth year of the owner and founder Kyle Gellis. It looks like these were supposed to be released last year, but because of some delays they didn’t get released until recently. They only come in one size, a 5.25″ x 50 ring gauge robusto. They come packed in 25 count boxes and the free state MSRP is $9. They are comprised of all Nicaraguan tobacco and made at the TABSA factory in Esteli. This was the first one of these I’ve smoked.
Prelight
The wrapper on this cigar is a medium peanut brown that exhibits some oils and tooth. The band is very cryptic as it doesn’t say the brand or blend and only has a crown, the number 976212 and the initials KJG on the back. I’ve said it before that it annoys me when bands don’t give any info about the brand or blend. When I gave it squeeze there was a slight amount of give without any soft spots. The wrapper gave off the aroma of leather with barnyard coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got hints of marshmallow and wood with a good draw.
Flavor
It starts off with a good amount of sweetness on the tongue with lots of spice starting to come through after a few puffs on it. I also noted flavors of wood, leather and green herbs in the first third. It start off medium-full in strength. As I moved into the second third the spice was still prevalent on the tongue and retrohale, but mellowed out by the end of the second third. The flavors were pretty similar to the first third with more of the sweet finish coming through. The cigar stayed at medium-full strength. When I got to to the final third the spice did start coming back on the tongue and retohale. The flavors were similar to the last third with some graham thrown in. It was medium-full strength to the end.
Construction
The burn was a little wavy on the one I smoked but the draw was great.
Value
A commemorative cigar for under $10 is a great price to me.
Conclusions
The day after I smoked this cigar I contacted they guys at the shop and had them put some aside for me since I didn’t know how many they had left and I really liked the cigar. I do think that this cigar is the strongest release so far from Warped, which might make it too strong for some. If you’d like to try this one you can head over to SmallBatchCigar.com and pick some up.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
