El Rico Habana

I bought several of these cigars after reading that the maker was the same guy who makes La Gloria Cubana...and I've had several good La Glorias...figured that the El Rico might be a good'un. Plus my brother's name is Eric and I call him "Rico" so, in Ryan T. Reid's mind, buying a five pack or two of these made perfect sense.

Ryan T. Reid's mind can sometimes go horribly, horribly, southwest of Reality.

This dude had a red and gold band, looked rather unremarkable, and smelled...undistinguished. I believe it was a robusto size...probably 5" long and 50 on the ring gauge. The wrapper had some bumps and veins and wasn't shiney or interesting in any way. After I lit it up with my trusty yellow Blazer PB-209, I got a few puffs...and realized that I was probably not in for a treat.

The thing had been resting for almost a year in my humidor. It tasted of plain (but strong) tobacco, with a metallic edge. No pepper, no chocolate, no tea or coffee...just a taste that was nasty enough to be nasty but not nasty enough to be fun (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

The smoke was...okay. The construction was...adequate. The appearance was okay. But the cigar just didn't taste good. I did get a nice nicotine buzz out of it.

Maybe the fact that I'd just realized that I was going to get hosed on my income taxes this year soured the stogie...but the Pacifica beer I drank and a fine stogie should have been able to compensate for a little turbulence in the great skyways of my mental health.

Yeah, I think I can safely say: don't buy this cigar. If I gift you one...don't take it! Or at least trade it to someone who doesn't read Puros on the Low Low.


Construction (x2): 7 It held together. Needed a few touch-ups but nothing serious.
Flavor: 2 (It just didn't taste good. Period.)
Value: 2 (I wouldn't buy another for a quarter)
Plumage: 5 (smoke was present but not "big" and didn't smell good.
Special: 5 (It was noteworthy in that it seemed to have a lot of nicotine in it!)

Total: 4.67

I have learned from this just because a cigar is named after one of my friends or loved ones, it could still suck. I guess I'll hold off on pulling the trigger on the El Scotto and Vegas Cutcliffe boxes that I had marked down to buy!