Burn Consistency Draw Appearance Taste Construction Well, after being a fan of little cigars, and....SOME cigarillos (gas station cigarillos are just weird, something's wrong with them, they are much worse than gas station cigars), and cheap cigars, i decided that maybe i would like "fancier" cigars. I kept an eye out for gas stations/grocery stores with higher class cigars, and I found some AyC Grenadier Minis and Garcia y Vega Cigarillos. They were almost exactly the same size, and i was incredibly displeased by both. They were VERY sharp in taste, and almost burned my mouth. They are currently aging for a LONG time, to see if some day they will be palatable. That was after i ordered my full size Grenadiers, these panatelas. I figured "oh great, i tried them and they suck. Good thing it was so cheap." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And cheap they are. 5 of these will cost less than most 5 packs of crappy cigars at a gas station. When they arrived, I noticed they were MUCH bigger. This brings me to my first point, ***the appearance. 8 out of 10.*** The cigar is longer than most panatelas, but it matches the thickness perfectly. Also, though not perfect as far as shape, the few dimples here and there seem to add to the aesthetic quality of the cigar. The "cap" at the end has a hole punched in it, so for a while i was confused as to whether or not i was to cut it. I decided to, which revealed how neatly the cigar was packed, which looked good and brings me to the next point: [By the way, i think you don't have to cut them, the hole is there so you can smoke them without cutting them] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Consistency, burn and draw ***Consistency: 7.5 out of 10.*** The aforementioned dimples show slight unevenness in the cigar, and the tobacco, though neat, is packed tighter at some places it seems. ***Burn: Not much to say here. It does. I didn't see a very large ember at the end, and it doesn't produce a lot of smoke. This contributes the mildness.*** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***Draw: 9.2 out of 10*** in my opinion. The draw is perfect for me, i can't say anything bad about it. might not be right for everyone though, and cutting it differently doesn't seem to provide a WHOLE lot of change in draw, so you're stuck with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***Construction: 7 out of 10.*** Fair construction, it isn't going to explode on you, but i have had one of them start to come unraveled. Probably isolated incident, but either way it's not something one really wants. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taste: very mild compared to what i've smoked, which is not a whole lot, so it is basically just my opinion. I have a very weak palate so things get too strong for me easily, but i can finish this cigar without much trouble and it doesn't get too hot. ***9/10 for me***, but the mildness might be a bit too mild for some, so ***8/10 overall.*** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overall: 8.5. Bump it up to 9 if you factor the price. If you've had the gas-station Grenadiers, either way, you will most likely like this cigar whether or not you liked the cheap ones. Something is just different about them, i think they might be made in a different plant or something.
