CI Legends Series – Yellow Label Pepin
Posted By Elvis on April 10, 2008
Ah yes, it’s April 10th here in Minnesota and two weeks ago we thought Spring was here and I imagined myself sitting out in my garage at night soon lighting up a cigar and watching over the neighborhood in the cover of darkness as I love to do. But tonight it’s snowing….and we’re told by the local weather goons who get a boner anytime the white shite flies, that it’s going to tally up to 8-10 inches by tomorrow afternoon. Lovely. Luckily, I have my 4 season heated porch to smoke in, so I’ve opened up the windows to smell the fresh precipitation and try to fool myself that Spring is almost here.
And by another stroke of luck I have a new cigar to review that I have eyed for some time at CI. I have watched one of the newer CI Legends Series entries for months on CI’s evil twin sister, Cigarbid.com, to try and score a 5 pack at a reasonable price. Well, since this entry is made by Pope John Pepin that has never happened until last week when the mother-ship CI had a special of the week on them at $30 for 12. I was in right away and couldn’t wait to light up.
But then a horrible sickness hit our house with the major symptom being a fullness of the throat. Great…Spring gunk. I was in fear that the Don would have to wait. Luckily I only got a touch of what everyone else got so I pulled out some Scotch to kill it off and the next day I felt great. Time to herf.
Like all the Legends cigars, this measures 5.75×54 and has a pretty normal looking brown wrapper….also looks very dry like all the other Legends. That’s ok though…what do you want for around $4 per stick (which is another requisite of the Legends series)?
I stuck the cigar in my mouth to wet it down and get the pre-light flavor. I could tell it was going to have a bit of kick and spice to it like everything Don Pepin makes. I lit it up and it got going right away nicely. But I was not prepared from reading another review of this stick for the overwhelming black pepper taste that quickly started burning my tongue, throat and lips. About a half an inch in and I was pissed off. Why? Why does the Don feel the need to wake you up out of your otherwise relaxed state with this obnoxious over-seasonsing? I know it’s his trademark, but I thought this Legends stick was supposed to be a little tamer than the Tatuajes or the 601′s he makes. Obnoxiously strong pepper…that’s what I kept thinking. It seemed almost childish to me…like he was wondering, “Just how strongly can I possibly open a cigar?”. He pushed the limit overboard on this one.
Thankfully, after about an inch plus, this pepper taste started to subside a bit but the initial burst stayed on my mind and palate the whole way through the smoke. Overall, I think this cigar is a one note. Maybe it’s because they don’t get aged enough to mellow it out since they are a bargain stick. The flavors never develop past spiciness and pepper. And the last two inches of the cigar circled back to the beginning…not only does it burn hot by that point, but the pepper ramps up again to take your breath away. Perhaps the Legends size requirement is not the right vehicle for this blend. A fatter or longer stick might spread the flavor out a little more. The cigar was also very dry on the palate and I found myself reaching for my bottle of water more times than usual.
For the price, these sticks are worth a try and if you like the signature Pepin butt kicking, you might eat these up. But for me, it was too much too soon with not much in between.
I give this cigar 2 cushions (plastic covering variety) out of a possible 5. This is our new Velvet Couch grading system…enjoy!
1: Wooden lawn chair
2: Plastic covering on the old davenport just like Grandma’s house!
3: Cloth seats
4: Leather cushy seat
5: What else? True, luxurious crushed velvet cushions
Elvis
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[...] at The Velvet Cigar tests the CI Legends Yellow Label by Don Pepin Garcia. Suffice it to say he doesn’t think as much of this smoke as I do. Check out my tasting notes [...]