Cigar Review: Graycliff 1666 PGX 6 X 50

Well, last night my buddy, Jon, and I went to a local pub style bar and had some cigars. I figured I would take that time to review the cigar I was smoking. From the humi I decided to pull the Graycliff 1666 PGX vitola(FYI, I'm a huge fan of Graycliff Cigars). From what I read on the net, these are the only Graycliffs not made in their Bahamian factory, but instead made in their Honduran factory. Not sure why this is, but I assume to keep cost down? Anyway the cigar has a nice dark appearance and a rather sweet smell to the wrapper and the foot.

Drink of choice for me was an Amstel Light, not sure that the pairing was the best, but when you live a low-carb lifestyle, your options are pretty limited when it comes to booze. If this place served hard alcohol I would have more than likely ordered up a Rum and Diet Coke. Anyhow I clipped the cap with my V cutter and away we went.

1st 3rd:

First flavor I get is some sort of burning paper taste. Not a very good start for this bad boy. After a few puffs the paper taste leaves (thank goodness), and for some reason after drawing on it and having a sip of my beer I taste fresh fruit, maybe watermelon? You might think I'm out of my mind, but that's the best way I could describe it. A slight spiciness lingers in the back of the tongue. So far, that papery taste has gone away completely. About 1 inch into the cigar I notice a very large split in the wrapper. It doesn't seem to create any problems for a while, the flavors do not seem to have been impacted by the split, nonetheless it is disappointing to see a huge run in my cigar.

2nd 3rd:

The sweetness seems to have gotten a tiny bit stronger, otherwise no real big change in flavor. The burn is pretty crappy due to the split in the cigar, but there are no lacking flavors or air getting through the split. Towards the end of the 2nd 3rd I get a nice hit of Chocolaty Mocha but it comes and goes quickly. It was a very pleasant flavor while it lasted.

Final 3rd:

Well, after several touch ups the cigar is still tasting ok. Not great, but OK. My buddy orders some chicken wings so I set her down for a few minutes to partake (gotta love that low carb lifestyle). Surprisingly the stogie did not go out and I did not need to relight this baby. I smoked all the way through the split in the cigar with no flavor issues, only burn issues. Towards the very end of my Graycliff I get a strange floral almost perfume taste. A taste I seldom can distinguish, but it was a nice change of pace.

Overall Thoughts:

I have smoked 2 of these for this review and the 1st one I had smoked and burned flawlessly. The cigar pictured had a large split in the wrapper which caused some pretty annoying burn problems. The flavors were good but not very outstanding. I seem to have enjoyed my first 1666 more so than the one I smoked last night. I would probably recommend this cigar to a Maduro lover that likes their cigars in the medium strength at best. It never got overpowering even in the final 3rd of the cigar. I would describe the flavor profile as smooth draw and a mellow creamy finish with hints of Chocolate and Coffee/Mocha. My rating for this cigar is probably a 7.5 out of 10 due to the burn issues. If someone asked me to sum it up in a few words I guess I would say "Good, but not Great".