Jim's SPC Plum Pudding Special Reserve Robusto Review.

[JimInks]

I got a couple of these cigars, and thought I'd try my hand at a cigar review.

This robusto has a easy char light, and the smoker will quickly notice a burst of sweetness. Overall, it sports a lot of earth, wood, sweetness, floralness, smoke, peat, leather, vegetation, some pepper, spices, coffee, bitter dark chocolate, tangy citrus, herbs, grass, and a light nuttiness. The wrapper is Nicaraguan habano, and the filler is a combination of Nicaraguan cigar leaf and Plum Pudding. The effect of the Plum Pudding Special Reserve pipe tobacco is moderate.The strength and nic-hit are a couple of steps past the medium mark. The taste is a slot past the center of medium to full. The experience is fairly smooth with minute rough notes. It’s well packed with an easy draw. It has a very light bitter note at the finish, which I find typical for cigars at the nub. No tunneling, and it requires few relights. The most obvious flavor aspects are the fairly smooth overall sweetness, floralness, smoke, and some spices. Has a strong room note. Not quite an all day smoke for the veteran, and is repeatable under any circumstance. I’m forgoing a rating due to my lack of experience in comparing cigars although I have smoked thousands of them over the past, almost fifty years. I do recommend it.

 

[Speak Easy]

Well done, sir!

 

[kcghost]

Very good, Jim!!

 

[PipeIT]

For a sec, I thought there was a wrong post when I saw Plum Pudding mentioned in the cigar section... LOL

Also, wow, we now have Jim doing stogie reviews, woooo.

Nice review Jim!

 

[JimInks]

For a sec, I thought there was a wrong post when I saw Plum Pudding mentioned in the cigar section... LOL

Also, wow, we now have Jim doing stogie reviews, woooo.

Nice review Jim!

Thank you. I'm not starting cigar reviews, but I felt this particular one ought to have a review because pipe tobacco was in it. The idea came to me because I figured some pipe smokers might be interested to try it, and maybe I could be helpful. I was rather reluctant to do this since I never wrote a review of a cigar, but the challenge of trying it was intriguing enough for me to take a whack at it. I purposely did not look at any cigar reviews because I didn't want anything influencing me. I wrote what I felt I would want to know about the product.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

@JimInks

To my mind, with a cigar, there should be no relights. Were there construction issues?

 

[JimInks]

@JimInks

To my mind, with a cigar, there should be no relights. Were there construction issues?

Not in the least. I do tend to relight when I lose focus, and that happens sometimes when I smoke cigars and pipes. I've seen cigar smokers light and relight even the best of cigars so I never think about it. In this case, I did one relight for the first cigar, but I was furiously writing review notes at the time. The second time, I don't remember relighting, so I'll say I didn't.

 

[deborah621]

Your description paints a vivid picture of the cigar’s attributes, from its earthy and woody notes to its floral and spicy undertones. The Nicaraguan habano wrapper and unique filler blend, including Plum Pudding, seem to provide a distinctive smoking experience that’s both enjoyable and memorable.

 

[karam]

Thanks for the review Jim! I wondered if you consider pipe tobacco to be more nuanced overall than cigars, purely on the basis of pipe blends usually having more constituents and additives than cigars. This is not meant to be a "are pipes better than cigars" in the least! One can't really make an apples to apples comparison because most pipe tobacco, and most cigars are rarely single leaf smokes

Perhaps there's some subconscious bias for me, when I am smoking a cigar I always think THIS IS A CIGAR (unless they are Toscanos or Maduros which have a distinctly different taste from "cigars"). If this previous sentence annoyed cigar experts, it was not intended.

 

[JimInks]

Thanks for the review Jim! I wondered if you consider pipe tobacco to be more nuanced overall than cigars, purely on the basis of pipe blends usually having more constituents and additives than cigars. This is not meant to be a "are pipes better than cigars" in the least! One can't really make an apples to apples comparison because most pipe tobacco, and most cigars are rarely single leaf smokes

Perhaps there's some subconscious bias for me, when I am smoking a cigar I always think THIS IS A CIGAR (unless they are Toscanos or Maduros which have a distinctly different taste from "cigars"). If this previous sentence annoyed cigar experts, it was not intended.

I do think that pipe blends would more nuanced than cigars more often than not for the reasons you indicated. Most blends have a variety of tobaccos. In some cases, individual ingredients may have separate casings before they are mixed, and once blended, may or may not have any number of toppings. That would lead to a lot of flavors in one mix. Of course, many blends are not so complicated, but any time you are mixing a product, flavor variety is bound to occur.

Cigar leaf is cased before blending, and most products have a variety of leaf in the construction, so there is going to be some complexity and nuance just as there would be in a pipe tobacco blend. Like aromatic pipe tobacco, aromatic cigars - if not heavily topped - will have some amount of nuance.

Are individual pipe tobacco varietals more complex than individual cigar varietals? I haven't smoked individual cigar varietals as I have pipe tobacco varietals. I have smoked enough cigars over the decades that had so much complexity that I would answer "no" to my own question. When I smoke a cigar, I'm looking for all the flavor aspects that I can find just as I do when I smoke pipe tobacco.

 

[PipeIT]

Thank you. I'm not starting cigar reviews, but I felt this particular one ought to have a review because pipe tobacco was in it. The idea came to me because I figured some pipe smokers might be interested to try it, and maybe I could be helpful. I was rather reluctant to do this since I never wrote a review of a cigar, but the challenge of trying it was intriguing enough for me to take a whack at it. I purposely did not look at any cigar reviews because I didn't want anything influencing me. I wrote what I felt I would want to know about the product.

I was just joking about you doing cigar reviews... LOL

 

[JimInks]

I was just joking about you doing cigar reviews... LOL

You'll get your deserved penance soon enough.

 

[PipeIT]

You'll get your deserved penance soon enough.

I can’t remember you ever doing a cigar review before, hmm

Well maybe if I send some nice Cubans, my sentence will get reduced. LOL

I shifted gears towards the end of last year and started buying cigars, haven’t smoked one in probably 15 years.

They’re just sitting for now humidifing in my tupperdors.

Be well! ❤

 

[Egg Shen]

I got 1 toro coming. I’m not expecting to love it and I am not expecting $14 worth of satisfaction from it. But I want it to work and if it does I’ll snag a box. I was underwhelmed with those Stilwell gars made from pipe tobacco. But I remain optimistic.

 

[driftedshank1]

Mark Ryan previously collaborated with a cigar manufacturer in the Phillipines called Tabacalera. I believe he distributed that brand in the US for a while. They added his Perique to one of their blends. I've been smoking cigars for many years and for the price I'd say they were quite good. I'm not sure they are available in the US any longer but I recall they were available from Tabacalera directly, Shipping, however, was costly . My point is that pipe tobacco added to a traditional cigar blend can make for a very interesting flavor and it might be worth it to give these SPC cigars a try.

 

[pipenschmoeker123]

Thank you for the review @JimInks

 

[Egg Shen]

Mine was pretty good. I just think priced too close to cigars that I feel offer a bit more. Worth trying 1 IMO