Since taking most of December off from my regular schedule, I decided that this year I’m going to try something a little different for me, the occasional post dedicated to one cigar. I’ve got a bit of a backlog of review samples, and I wanted to start out with one which hits close to home, in a couple of ways. Best Cigar Prices, a valued sponsor and fellow Pennsylvanians, recently launched a the 601 Pennsylvania Edition, available in Robusto, Toro and Gordo, and was kind enough to allow me to be among the first to smoke it. Here is their information on the cigar:
Blended in honor one of America’s top cigar states (and our home base), the 601 Pennsylvania Edition combines the finest of Nicaraguan tobaccos to bring you a fantastic full-flavored salute to PA. Showcasing a hearty Habano Oscuro wrapper over specially-selected Esteli & Condega leaves, each 601 Pennsylvania Edition cigar includes a single PA Broadleaf in the filler to ensure an authentic taste of Pennsylvania in every stick.
Handcrafted under the careful eye of Erik Espinosa at La Zona Cigars in Esteli, the 601 PA welcomes you in with a wave of peppery spice before introducing it’s dense and layered profile with tones of smoky wood, subtle sweetness, toasted bread, and almond. A bold, complex cigar with medium-full body, these special edition smokes present a wealth of rich character that’s right in line with the cigar excellence that 601 is known for.
I’ve been a fan of the 601 line for many years, and Erik Espinoza’s La Zona factory has been creating some great cigars since their inception. As it says above, the Pennsylvania Edition is an homage to my home state, and the band is modeled after the PA license plate. That reminds me, I handed down my vanity plate to my son recently, I had C-SLICE for 30 years, and I need to find a new one. I wonder if 601 is available? (One time I was travelling through New Jersey and got home to an e-mail from someone on the alt.smokers.cigars USENET group asking if it was me they saw! Maybe a little creepy, as this was in the late 90s, and quite a bit off the topic of this post.) I digress. I smoked two of the Robustos in this line, generously provided by Best Cigar Prices, over the last two evenings and was most impressed. While both examples had a looser draw than I would like, the flavor and strength was very much to my liking. This cigar has a different flavor, there’s a twang in there which is uncommon. There have been quite a few cigars recently utilizing leaf from the next county over from where I live, but this one is quite different from those. The smokiness is the predominant flavor to my palate, and it’s not a cigar that I would smoke on an empty stomach. I can see this aging well, and I, admittedly, smoked these relatively soon after receiving them. It was hard to resist the urge to try them out. I would, and will, buy these cigars to have in the humidor, and I look forward to trying the other sizes. My only real complaint with this cigar was that the band was quite hard to remove, a minor issue.
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
I’m a huge broadleaf fan and enjoy all the 601 blends. I’ll have to put this one on my list. Thanks
Sounds like an excellent cigar.
Yes, not on an empty stomach for sure. Most 601 are like that. Great review as always!
The code, Craig, don’t forget to tell everyone to use the code! 😉
I got their email and have been intrigued by this blend. Love the 601, but for some reason have never had good luck with the Blue Label, which seems to be everyone’s favorite.
Funny thing about the band removal. A lot of Erik’s older blends used to be made at My Father, and I think that their bands are among the easiest to remove. You would think that he would have learned from that.
Yes! Use CRAIG1099 to get 10% off and $.99 shipping. You are right about My Father bands. For some reason it makes my cigar experience better being able to easily remove the band!
Can’t wait to give this but my a whirl!! 😎 👍 💨 💨
Can’t wait to try this. The Laranja Reserva was one of my favorite cigars over the last year.
It sounds like might be a bit strong for my tastes but the concept is unique.
Creepy? That’s why you got that vanity plate, right?
I’m hoping to try some of these. You and I discussed PA tobacco a couple of years back and since, I’ve been a big broadleaf fan. This looks like something that I can use to broaden my horizons with.
sounds like an interesting smoke…thanks for sharing!
I’ve been smoking the 601 line for many years now. The Blue Label maduro is still my favorite, but they are consistently great across the line.
Great cigars 601…
Sounds like another winner from Espinoza and La Zona!
The 601 looks interesting, gonna try it! Thanks
I’m still dabbling with only a few 601s so far, especially the La Bomba from you last year. This Pennsylvania sounds like one to try, too.