Rafael Gonzales Lonsdale SUA JUN 00

[ayepatz]

Many thanks to all those who voted. This RG Lonsdale SUA JUN 00 was a wonderful choice.

As promised, it was paired with Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin, as recommended by our resident "Liver-Whisperer" @Ken Gargett, and what a stunning recommendation that is! Having checked on Four Pillars' website as to the best way to sample this amazing gin, I settled on trying it both neat with a little lemon peel, and watered down with tonic and a lemon slice.

I'm not much of a reviewer, mainly because experience has taught me that my palate has proven to be, at best, a little eccentric, and, at worst, downright weird. But here goes anyway.

The wrapper was a lovely light colorado, with just a hint of boxpress. Cold draw often eludes me, but, on this occasion, there was a definite hint of fresh cut grass, much like you get with a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Construction was spot-on, borne out by the fact that not a single touch-up was required.

The draw was on the tight side, but was perfectly acceptable, and responded well to @PigFish's dot/dash approach which he mentioned in his lovely review of this cigar from September 2010:-

 

First Third

The opening was very mild, the cut-grass note from the cold draw very much in evidence. This quickly gave way to hints of peanut and cream (reminiscent of a peanut brittle milkshake I tasted a few days ago). The anis/blackcurrant of the gin contrasted nicely with this.

Second Third

This cigar was all about the middle. Towards the end of the first third, sweetness started coming to the fore. @El Presidente mentioned bread and butter pudding as a quintessential RG note in his and Smithy's cracking review (last from the old deck) of the Rafael Gonzales Corona Extra:-

For me, it was more like Madeira cake, but that's probably my weird tastebuds in action again. There was a vanilla sweetness that kicked in from here all the way to the end of the cigar. Still mild to medium, the predominant attribute was clotted cream, for those of you who have ever sampled a Cornish Cream Tea. This was soon followed up with honey. I've never done it, but I imagine if you drizzled honey over a clotted cream covered scone, you wouldn't be far off. The sweetness was both in the smoke and on the lips. Towards the end of the middle third, a touch of white pepper also threw its hat into the ring. And just a single flash of orange citrus.

At this point, the gin and tonic proved the better partner, the neat gin just being a tad too strong in anis flavour to let the cigar show well.

Third Third

The final third maintained these flavours, but stepped up to medium body. Towards the end, the creaminess yielded bragging rights to the white pepper, but remained as an ostinato figure in the background. The sweetness remained to the last. For the last couple of inches, the neat Bloody Shiraz gin was a much better accompaniment than the G&T, and I would suggest that if you are pairing it with a fuller-bodied cigar like a Boli, this would be the way to go.

Burn throughout was perfect.

This is easily the best cigar I've had this year, and the Four Pillars Gin is worthy of every word of praise which Ken has heaped upon it. Together they made for a wonderful afternoon in the garden.

To sum up, as there has been much chat on the site recently about Star Wars, I would like to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi:-

"An elegant cigar... for a more civilised age."

97 points. For the middle section alone. Sensational.

 

[99call]

Lovely review dude, Hats off. 

 

[PigFish]

Damn smart review my friend! Enjoyed the read. May have crack one of those myself in the next few days.

-R

[Sudzdaddy]

Excellent review!  Inspired, I selected a similar PUC JUL 00 RG Lons, but opted to stick with ice water.  Razor-sharp burn, sweetness as you described, but without the white pepper in the last third.  Influence from the Four Pillars neat?

Great read, thanks again!

[JohnS]

Great review. Thanks!

[ayepatz]

4 hours ago, Sudzdaddy said:

Excellent review!  Inspired, I selected a similar PUC JUL 00 RG Lons, but opted to stick with ice water.  Razor-sharp burn, sweetness as you described, but without the white pepper in the last third.  Influence from the Four Pillars neat?

Great read, thanks again!

Definitely the cigar. I’ve smoked about half the box, and most of them have been the same. 

[Tommy_Tao]

Had a 1992 RG Lonsdale. Sadly it lost flavors. All I get was slight aged tobacco sweetness.