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Review: Cigar.com Purple Label

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Size: Robusto, 5X50

Wrapper: Connecticut

Filler: Mixed Dominican

Strength: Mild

Price: 20 for $45.95 at Cigar.com

Score: 9.1

With the birds chirping, a sleeping baby inside, and a nice breeze after a rainy day, it was the perfect time to fire up a cigar on the back porch. I’ve chosen to smoke another House Blend from cigar.com tonight. So far in our series, we’ve reviewed the Blue Label and the Corojo Label. Tonight I fire up the Purple Label, the only Mild stick in their line. A very nice Dominican produced at the world-famous Tabadom Factory in the Dominican Republic, Cigar.com has produced this stick to rival such cigars as Macanudo, Montecristo, and H. Upmann. As you’ll see below, they’ve succeeded.

Appearance, 1.6:
This stick has decent weight and is firm to the touch throughout–not one soft spot was detected. The Connecticut shade wrapper is simply and elegantly wrapped in a purple and silver band and has only slightly noticeable veins. The foot is very tightly rolled with a nice circular, un-flattened shape to it. The head is fairly clean with a slightly jagged cap and an odd roll that culminates at the cut line.

The pre-light draw seems a bit tight, but the stick cut very well and the flavors in the draw were excellent; very creamy with hints of hazelnut and a backnotes of earthiness; surprisingly there is also a bit of pepper in the aftertaste.

Burn, 1.7:
The Purple lit perfectly with a medium draw. The smoke has a great aroma to it, though it is light and airy with few billows of thick smoke. The ash had a superb hold and fell only at my encouragement; however, it wasn’t the prettiest ash and was mixed with dark greys. The burn on this smoke is not hot but moved up the stick very fast; this may have been in part due to my fear of placing the stick down and having it go out because of the draw. The draw did finally open up into the halfway point of the smoke.

Flavor, 2.9:
Excellent! This is the creamiest smoke I’ve had, exceeding that of the Romeo y Juliete 1875, the Perdomo Lot 23, and the 5 Vegas Original—my three go-to smokes. Typically in mild smokes you sacrifice flavor and profile for consistency and smoothness, but the Purple Label delivers both and far exceeds the flavor of Macanudo’s Hyde Park. I now have a fourth go-to. The flavor of this cigar matched that of the pre-light draw and reminded me of hazelnut flavored coffee creamer—very thick and very sweet and it coated my mouth throughout the smoke. At the 2/3 mark a barnyard flavor arrived for the first time and mixed very well with the creaminess. At 3/3 the flavor profile moved from barnyard back to the thick creaminess and this remained to the nub.

Overall, 2.9:
At around $2 a smoke you will be hard pressed to find a better value; in fact, I would choose this stick if it were priced the same as some of the others they’ve sought to match. The experience of the smoke was dampened for a bit until the draw opened up and I felt the liberty to place it down and read inbetween puffs. This is a box-worthy smoke to be sure and the next time you place an order from cigar.com pick up a single and see for yourself.

(Total: 9.1)


Comments

  • MarkHMarkH Posts: 120 ✭✭
    Matt, I had the purple last night as well, the churchill. Your absolutely right, very creamy & nutty. Perfect burn, lots of smoke. I didn't have any problems with the draw on the churchill and it was a good 2 hour smoke. It went well with 2 fingers of Balvenie on the rocks.
  • Nice Mark! So it didn't burn fast for you at all? If the burn was a little slower and the draw a little looser, this would have been a 9.3, which is just incredible for a $2 stick...
  • HaysHays Posts: 2,337 ✭✭✭
    Matt,
    That was an excellent review my friend! I believe this is the first time I've read one of your reviews (if you've done others), and I was very impressed. I quite thoroughly enjoyed a Perdomo Lot 23 just last night, and upon your recommendation I will make sure to make the Ccom Purple Label one of my next choices.

    Thanks!
    ¨The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea¨ - Isak Dinesen

    ¨Only two people walk around in this world beardless - boys and women - and I am neither one.¨
  • What's up Hays...

    I love the Lot 23 and the 5 Vegas Red, and I think the Purple ranks w/ those for creaminess, though it lacks the pepper. Definitely worth the money...
  • MAJORdorMoMAJORdorMo Posts: 356
    I just ordered the CCOM House Blend sampler, and I can't wait to try the Purple Label. I've been looking for an alternative to the Montecristo White, and this sounds right up my alley.
  • Good call on the order; this may sound like crazy talk, but I prefer the Purple to the White...let me know how you like it--what size did you get?
  • MAJORdorMoMAJORdorMo Posts: 356
    matthewjmichael:
    Good call on the order; this may sound like crazy talk, but I prefer the Purple to the White...let me know how you like it--what size did you get?


    The sampler is supposed to be robustos, but I've heard of people getting various sizes in their sampler, so I guess I'll find out soon enough. ^_^
  • MAJORdorMoMAJORdorMo Posts: 356
    Looks like CCOM decided to make the Purple Label a Churchill =D. I'll probably only give it a week in my humidor before I smoke it.
  • You'll enjoy the Churchill, especially since these tend to burn fast
  • I bought some connecticuts for my girlfriend and they arrived today. She had a purple label and loved it. I smoked some of it to see how it was, and I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted very similar to the RP connecticut, and had a perfect draw and an even burn.
  • clearlysuspectclearlysuspect Posts: 2,124 ✭✭✭✭
    This is one of the only mild cigars I'll smoke. I was completely shocked by how much I enjoyed it.
  • bearbbearb Posts: 1,128 ✭✭✭
    Lovely with a coffee in the morning! Nothing too complex, but absolutely no issues at all....certainly worth the small pitance that they can be had for. I won't shy away from another sampler to keep some on hand. Thanks ccom!
  • brotheradambrotheradam Posts: 896
    Great review, my favorite of the CCom smokes. That reminds me, I'm almost out :)
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