The P.G. Gourmet series was one of the first cigar lines I was exposed to. At the time it was the lightest cigar I had ever smoked. Now, a little while down the line, a P.G. corona is still my favorite light smoke. Now I am here to review Paul Garmirian’s 20th anniversary cigar, the P.G. Symphony.
Longer and fatter than my standard P.G. corona, the Symphony is also much darker in color. It has a quite oily, nearly veinless chocolate brown wrapper. It has a very clean and smooth aroma of leather and earth with a subtle nasal spice. The foot of the cigar has a wheaty, almost grassy note to it.
The first few puffs of the cigar are rather intense when compared to a standard P.G. It’s earthy, a little spicy and very leathery as standard P.G.s are but much stronger. The grassy and toasted wheat flavors of a standard P.G. aren’t as prevalent in the Symphony. There is a pleasant spice on the back of the tongue. Over all very smooth and clean, no bite. Creamy despite the darker flavors and dense smoke. The burn is not very even and the ash, which is a mix of white and light gray, cracks and splits. The flavors and intensity after the first inch or so level out and become smooth. The grassy taste is comes to the front of the palate and mixes with the earth and leather. The finish is smooth and milky, though a bit dry.
The subtle and faint notes in this cigar include a mineral, a back of the mouth spice, and coffee flavor. These seem to be somewhat eclipsed by the overall earthy strength of the smoke and do not compliment as well as hoped.
A very smooth bready note comes forward every now and again throughout the smoke adding a pleasant change to the over all taste. And as the smoke progresses the bready flavor becomes much stronger, evening out the playing field between the earth and leather and allowing for a little bit more complexity, including the mineral finish.
Towards the middle of the cigar the burn becomes razor sharp and the ash strong.
A smooth smoke with lots of robust flavors. Though perhaps not for the standard P.G. smoker.
- Liam Collier
