Crusty old Rafael Gonzalez Panetelas I've had for at least 10 years. It's bounced around the humidor for long enough - time to put it out of its misery.
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Discontinued for some time now, the RGP was never a great cigar and rarely a bad cigar, unless it was plugged. Being a true Havana Cuban sandwich cigar (made with short and medium filler), the draw is tight, but entirely manageable.
Dry draws taste of oatmeal, hickory wood, and bitter espresso.
1st third - sweet & exotic woodiness, bitter latte, orange dark chocolate, mineral-laden Cuban earth, and a little slap and tickle from black pepper.
2nd third - big notes of hickory wood finished with a little nougat, faint cinnamon & sugar, the latte is now cafe au lait in that it is sweeter and hides the pepper, tastes quite a bit like a Padron 1964, developing notes of oatmeal with a brandy-like finish.
3rd third - bitter coffee, charred oak casks (slight brandy or whiskey finish), toast made from dark bread, and finally loads of chocolate cake and Tootsie rolls - a Rafael Gonzalez hallmark.
The above is honestly an oversimplification. I was paying attention to the smoke and keeping notes, and was amazed at how each note came and went over the course of numerous puffs, sometimes complementing other flavors, and other times drowning them out entirely. It was such a cheap cigar (this came from a box that cost $40-50), and other than a claro-colored sample in the same humidor, there are no more to be had without opening your wallet wide. Shame.
