Initial Thoughts
If you’re like me, you probably haven’t heard of the 601 Pennsylvania Edition cigar yet. The reason being, that it is a shop exclusive collaboration between Erik Espinosa and BestCigarPrices.com (one of our partners). Now the 601 line has been around awhile from Erik Espinosa and team. However, this particular blend has only been around since 2016 as far as I can tell. The naming of this product is a nod to the home state of Pennsylvania which is where BestCigarPrices.com calls home. Also, within the blend there is some Pennsylvania broadleaf used in the filler so it’s a nice little tie together. Most often I hear of Pennsylvania broadleaf being used as a wrapper so I’m excited to see what it can offer as a filler leaf.
This 601 Pennsylvania Edition is sold in 15 count boxes and comes in 3 vitolas: Robusto, Toro, & Gordo. For this review I smoked the Toro. Let’s dive in and see what we’re dealing with here!
Looks
The wrapper used on this 601 Pennsylvania Edition is a Habano Oscuro. It offers up a beautiful texture and chocolately brown color as well. The tooth coming off the wrapper adds a little ruggedness that I love. I haven’t had a cigar with that much tooth on the wrapper in a while and I love the hand feel (is that a thing? Probably just called texture right?).
The band is fairly simple it has a large 601 in the middle with a Blue and Yellow piping on the top and bottom respectively. It’s a nice tribute to the state of Pennsylvania and looks like their license plates for automobiles. Pretty slick design there and a nice little homage.
The box itself is somewhat plain just a simple pine box with the 601 brand logo on it and the Espinosa stamp. Nothing over the top but it works. For a cigar that’s sold primarily online you don’t need a huge packaging presence so I’m ok with that. Now it’s time to dig into the meat of this review and light up this 601 Pennsylvania Edition.
Smoking
After I snipped the cap off I went in for a cold draw and was hit with a rush of air. Whew, the draw was wide open on this bad boy. So I was happy about that, but sometimes it can let the smoke hit you a little too hard so I’m going to have to pace myself when puffing on it to slow down some of the smoke coming through on the draw.
Once I got the 601 Pennsylvania Edition lit it was pouring off a nice thick smoke cloud. The draw wasn’t as open as I thought it would be after the cold draw test. So no worries there. During the first third I had to battle with the burn just a little. I was picking up some bitterness and so I purged it a couple of times and about half way through that first third it really started to pick up in terms of flavor and smoking experience, and cue segue.
Flavor
During my cold draw test and nosing around the cigar I picked up some fantastic notes. Sweet chocolate, spice and leather were the prominent notes. Once I put fire to the cigar I had some pretty bitter notes coming through. As I mentioned above I purged it a couple of times and it cleared it up really well.
The 2nd half of the first 3rd, yeah, figure that out… It started to pick up steam and I was pleasantly surprised. I picked up a good dose of spice specifically black and red pepper. There was a nice warming sensation that took over the mouth feel. Almost like a clove taste which was very interesting. That spice softened out to a tasty earth and mineral note that held most of the 2nd third. Followed by a return to the spice and chocolate feel in the last third.
Overall, I was delighted with this cigar. It started out a little rough, could have been user error who knows. When it kicked into full speed though this 601 Pennsylvania Edition really shined. I think most cigar smokers, myself included, would just pass over this cigar for some other name brands. I think it’s really something you should try yourself. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Would I Buy It Again?
Absolutely, I would probably buy a smaller vitola. I’ve gotten to where I typically smoke the corona gorda vitola. I feel that they smoke the best and in the time frame that I prefer, but yes loved the blend.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
Possibly! It’s a great value cigar at around $6 a stick you could possibly smoke this everyday.
Would I Buy a Box?
Probably not. I’m not a huge box buyer. I don’t know if I would smoke this enough to warrant a box, but it’d be nice to have a couple sitting in my humidor that I can grab whenever I have a chance.
Conclusion
All in all this 601 Pennsylvania Edition was a very solid cigar. A great smoking experience with a solid taste profile makes it an easy recommendation. I loved the middle third of this cigar. There was something going on in there where I feel that it really hit its stride. That warming sensation with the clove notes were very intriguing and kept me on my toes which I love. So do yourself a favor and go pick up a five pack over at BestCigarPrices.com and I think you’ll be happy that you did!
