G.A.R. Cigars by George A. Rico

By Gary Korb

A few weeks ago at the Famous Smoke Shop Cigar Expo & BBQ Bash, I was interviewing George A. Rico from STC Cigar Manufacturers in his booth. If you don't know George by name, then you may be familiar with his Gran Habano cigars or highly-rated 3 Siglos cigars that he created. I've been singing the praises of his cigars ever since I made the Gran Habano Connecticut #1 Gran Robusto one of my regular morning cigar favorites.

When I asked George what he had planned for the upcoming IPCPR Trade Show in Las Vegas this summer, he handed me a large unbanded cigar that he called "the gar." Actually, it's spelled G.A.R., which cleverly represent George's initials.

Today I finally got around to smoking my first G.A.R. and it was extremely memorable to say the least. When I went to the G.A.R. cigars website to look up the size of the sample he gave me, I found the names of the four sizes in the line (Rico Grande, Corona Gorda, Gran Consul and Robusto Grande), but no measurements. By my measurements the cigar was a 6" x 52, so I’m not sure what name the shape matched up to.

The pre-lit flavor was semi-sweet and leathery. Once lit, the cigar drew perfectly and gave off a wonderful aroma, too. It started out medium-bodied. The smoke was very creamy, earthy and dominated by a mix of well-rounded aged oak and sweet cedar flavors. It burned perfectly, too, and as it entered the third act the flavors really came alive evolving into a full-blown, robust cigar that stayed smooth and never turned bitter or overpowering even down the last inch.

Based on this sample alone, I think George is on his way to achieving another "outstanding" cigar line.

More to come from Vegas when I'll get to try another G.A.R.