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Panacea Red Label Robusto

Shamrocker

Sheik Yerbouti
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
1,591
Panacea Red Label Habano/Maduro
Size: 5x50 Robusto
Wrapper: Brazil
Binder: Habano
Filler: Cubano/Dominican/Nicaraguan
Strength: Strong


Considering the mercury climbed to an incredible 13 after getting snow last week, I decided to head out to the deck for what might be the last outdoor smoke of the season. I bought a 4 cigar sampler with 2 red and 2 black labels. My review of the black label Connecticut torpedo is HERE

Pre-Light

This cigar looked well constructed, and looked rather rustic. It felt just a little light in hand with a bit of give when squeezed, but it was even throughout leading me to believe the draw might be a little loose. The wrapper was very toothy and had a nice even colour with only a few veins visible. There was one bump along the side. It smelled of strong tobacco, with not much else my nose could pick up.

Draw & Burn

The cigar deformed a tad when I went to clip it with the Xikar, leading to a slightly uneven cut but nothing that would affect the cigar. Pre-light draw was indeed a little looser than I prefer. The foot toasted nicely in the stiff breeze, and the burn was straight and even throughout. The ash was tight for the first inch or so, and after that was a little flaky on the outside. The smoke was a dense white, even in the breeze. Had the wind been calmer, I'm sure the smoke would have been thick and heavy in my back yard.

Flavor Profile

At first there was nothing but a good, strong tobacco flavour in this cigar. The second third brought about some peppery spice, and still kept up with the rich tobacco taste in the first third. Heading past the halfway mark and to the end, there wasn't a whole lot of change in the taste. Still spicey, still strong with tobacco, but not much of the other flavours mentioned on the manufacturer's website for this cigar. Molasses, semi-sweet, hint of spice, carmel, coffee.

Overall Impression

A good cigar. Not bad, and not great either. The draw as mentioned, was a little light for my preference, and with the taste not being all that complex it was just a tad boring. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the taste of pepper and spice, and tobacco, but a little more would have been nice. I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than the black label, but I won't write this cigar off yet. I have a perfecto sitting in the humidor still, and I'll try it come spring time. I wouldn't call this an everyday smoke, but it's certainly not a dog rocket either.

(credit to CRQuarto for the review format)

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I would like to get my hands on a couple of these. Heard a lot about them when they first came out but still have not had one.

Brian
 
Thanks for the post, great pics. I recently smoked the Panacea Black and had a bad experience with it so I went back and looked at your post on it. You mentioned "There was something about the aftertaste though that just wasn't as enjoyable as most cigars I smoke." I had the same problem, the aftertaste caused me to barely finish the cigar--a friend of mine smoked one too and it was very bitter on the aftertaste with just an almost sour type finish as well.
 
Thanks for the post, great pics. I recently smoked the Panacea Black and had a bad experience with it so I went back and looked at your post on it. You mentioned "There was something about the aftertaste though that just wasn't as enjoyable as most cigars I smoke." I had the same problem, the aftertaste caused me to barely finish the cigar--a friend of mine smoked one too and it was very bitter on the aftertaste with just an almost sour type finish as well.

Maybe it's the blend of tobacco, or maybe it'd benefit from some down time in the humidor. Did you smoke the Connecticut Shade, or Brazilian Maduro?
 
I enjoyed your review. I have yet to try a Panacea, but I'm very curious about these. Thanks for the write up!
 
After reading your take on the red label Panacea robusto, I decided to smoke one this morning while fixing the screen door.

I can't always pick up flavors when smoking other than tobacco and this little robusto had a great taste to it. My draw was a little too easy for me and yet I punched it.

For an under $5 cigar I will probably buy more.

Thanks for the review and cool pics, made me dig in my humidor for it (which is a good thing) Shamrocker
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