Cigar Review: Foundry Compounds, Elements & Musings Carbon

I seem to have hit the jackpot lately on lower priced cigars. In a recent tip, I listed three recent discoveries. This fat entry from General Cigar’s Michael Gianni makes it four.

With an MSRP at $4.99, Carbon is a more subtle, tasty, and engaging smoke than I expected. Gianni introduced it at July’s IPCPR Trade Show as part of General’s Foundry operation. Carbon was one of a dozen Compounds, Elements & Musings lines, with 10 offered in one-time, highly limited editions. Only Carbon, sold in unique boxes of 77, and Uranium are slated to continue and are only in B&Ms.

The Carbon comes in one size, a 60 ring gauge that is 5.5 inches long. Gianni identifies the blend as “Nicaragua, Lower 48, and Smoke It,” so you can guess what’s what as well as I. Asked if there were plans to introduce any other vitolas, General’s Victoria McKee replied, “You never know!”

She also said that marketplace reaction to the Carbon has been excellent, with reorders “tough on the factory.” I can understand why. Carbon is not just a good $5 cigar; it’s a good cigar, period.

There’s lots of smoke, a good burn, easy draw, and consistency among the three I’ve smoked so far. I’d put it in the medium category of strength and intensity. The flavors develop as it goes along and a variety of exotic, spicy notes provides a workout for the taste buds. There’s also a bit of tobacco sweetness and earthiness along the way.

For me, Carbon is one of the best finds of 2013. I give it four stogies out of five.

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

–George E

photo credit: @Aphelion Cigar