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Stogie Reviews: Artisan’s Selection by PG No. 4

5 Jul 2007

Five months ago, I wrote an unflattering Quick Smoke of the Paul Garmirian (PG) Reserva Exclusiva. The honest critique – which was based on four or five Robustos – received some interesting comments from loyal readers, a fourth grade English teacher, and someone claiming to be from PG.

With no hard feelings, I decided it was about time to try a different PG line: the Artisan’s Selection. Launched ten years ago, these cigars come in nine vitolas and are advertised as consistent, smooth, and reasonably priced. With costs ranging from $6.40 to $4.70 apiece, however, the PG website makes it clear that “these are not seconds or rejects, but an offering of a great cigar at a very affordable price.”

Over the last few weeks, I’ve carefully smoked several five and ½ inch by 52 ring gauge No. 4s. As you can see by the picture, these are gorgeous sticks with smooth and seamless Colorado shade wrappers. The red and cream colored band is consistent with other PG smokes.

You’d expect a cigar this innocent-looking to start off with a whimper and not a bang, but that’s not the case. As soon as I lit the foot with a few matches, I received heavy notes of sharp spice and salt. Not terribly pleasing.

Then, after a few minutes, those flavors were pushed to the background by delicious, mild tastes of creamy butter, hazelnut, and ginger. This is the flavor I was hoping for, and it fortunately stuck around for the vast majority of the 60 minute smoke. (If you’re having trouble picking up all of these flavors, try smoking through the nose.)

In an interesting twist, the spicy notes actually dissipate into the final third. I don’t know about you, but most of the cigars I’m used to tend to get hotter and harsher at the very end. Even so, this is a prime example of a stogie that smokes best when you take your time.

I was very impressed with the quality and consistency of the physical properties of the No. 4s. With the slightest resistance, the draw is just right. The ash is fairly firm and the burn is as straight as they come.

The only drawback is that the delicate wrapper tends to tear a bit when the band is removed. Each time this occurred, though, I was able to quickly remedy the dilemma with a dab of saliva.

Overall, I think the $5.80 suggested retail price is very fair. This is a tasty, well-constructed cigar that is perfect for an early round of golf. I give the Artisan’s Selection No. 4 by Paul Garmirian three out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

Patrick A

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3 Responses to “Stogie Reviews: Artisan’s Selection by PG No. 4”

  1. DonCarlos Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 5:59 am #

    Interesting. I've never even heard of this cigar before, but now I will give it a try.

    Also, thanks for the link to your tip about smoking through the nose. I'm no newbie, but that's a cool tactic that's new to me.

  2. Sean Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 2:19 pm #

    Yeah, I’ve never heard of this one either.

    I tried the “smoking through the nose” thing this afternoon with an Oliva Serie G maduro. You’re right! the coffee and chocolate notes were much more recognizable on the palate.

    Sean

  3. Cigar Jack Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 2:49 pm #

    Nice looking cigar, this is the first I’ve heard of them. Looks like I need to find out some more about them.