Garo Habano Aniversario X

In today’s review we take a look at Garo Habano Fine Cigar’s second sample that was sent to us, the Aniversario X. The website (www.garohabano.com) doesn’t talk much about the reasoning behind the name but it’s probably safe to assume that it was released to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Garo Habano which has been around since 1996. The Aniversario X comes in 4 sizes and all are very large: Belicoso (6.25×54), Robusto “G” (6.25×54), Salomon (7×58) and Garo “A” (8×48). The description of this cigar claims this it is full bodied and offers a complexity comparable to the Havana cigars of the 50’s and 60’s. This is a bold claim and set up some high expectations for this cigar.

Garo Habano Aniversario X

I had high hopes for this cigar since it had the highest price point of the 5 samples sent to us and the Sun Grown Corojo wrapper with some Ligero filler sounded like a tasty and strong cigar. Unfortunately, my samples were plagued with wrapper issues and the body barely passed medium. The flavors were very enjoyable but didn’t change throughout the cigar. Once again, I’m braving the cold Canadian climate with the help of my propane heater to bring this review to our loyal readers.

Cigar: Garo Habano Aniversario X
Drink: Chateauneuf Du Pape French wine
Vitola: Bellicoso (6.25 x 54)
Wrapper: Sun-Grown Corojo
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Seco Cubano/Lijero Peru, Nicaragua, Criollo 98 & Cubano
Price: $8.40 from the Garo Habano web site
Burn Time: 2 – 2.25 Hours

Construction:
• Light Brown in color
• Slightly tapered head, not quite a typical Belicoso
• Small curly tail finish on top of a triple cap
• 2 prominent veins but not large enough to cause problems
• Tightly packed foot
• Good consistent firmness with a slight spring throughout
• On one sample, tight draw after two cuts, didn’t want to cut any further
• Still needed a third cut after lighting, past the tapered head now so it’s design seems kinds wasted, draw still tight but manageable
• Other samples had good draw
• At about halfway the wrapper split from the cap to the band in a straight and deep line, ruined the draw even more (see picture)
• Cigar kept expanding so the wrapper was barely burning
• Another sample split near the foot just after lighting…

Burn:
• Toasting was nice and even
• The bad draw sample felt like it was going out so I had to give it a lot of extra draws
• Burn is a little wavy but no touch ups needed through the first half
• The sample that didn’t split at the end never needed any corrections until I put it down

Smoke:
• Good amount of smoke
• Slight resting smoke that is nicely aromatic

Ash:
• Very nice light grey/white ash
• Ash is tight with no flaking
• Strong ash stuck on for about 1.5inches before I knocked it off

Tasting Notes:
• Not much aroma on the wrapper, just a slight hay/barnyard scent
• Foot has a stronger barnyard aroma and a bit of spice on the nose
• Very spicy on the lips after cutting
• Initial retrohale has a bite of spiciness that lingers
• Initial puffs are woodsy and earthy, very smooth with a great finish
• I was expecting this to be a strong smoke but it’s been consistently mild-medium bodied
• Approaching the halfway point and no flavor changes. They are good flavors but a little change would be nice
• As the wrapper expanded and stopped burning the flavors disappeared and was left with just bitter tobacco, was enjoying it until that happened…
• The sample that I was able to smoke to the nub was good to the end with only some minor bitterness

Final Thoughts:
• On the sample with the tight draw, the extra draws it needed made me feel like I was smoking it fast and I usually like to take it slow. Took away from my enjoyment of this cigar
• The flavors were tasty and very smooth but never changed. Some people may like a good consistent cigar but I prefer a little more dimension
• Cracking/exploding wrappers plagued all my samples
• The flavors were good and worth trying but they didn’t jump out at me. If they would have developed a bit or added a bit of complexity this would have been an excellent smoke minue the construction issues…