"Vishnevsky Ointment" Russian cigar.

[laficion]

The world of cigars is vast , from east to west and from north to south, there are countless countries that have a long , interesting and honorable history with tobacco.

One of these countries is Russia. Through out it's history, cigars have played an important role in Russia.

From the Czars, passing by the Communist period and more importantly today , cigars are not only a real status symbol but on the whole, Russians have always enjoyed the art of smoking and cigars are part of their cultural habits,we all know or have read the story of Davidoff.

My review will be about a very limited cigar and yes, you will have guessed it , a Russian cigar.

The cigar is called,"Vishnevsky Ointment", I agree, it's a strange name for a cigar but anyway, the cigar was made at the POGARSKIJ CIGAR FACTORY, one of the oldest factory in Russia founded in 1915 and still producing cigars today.

The VISHNEVSKY cigar is a limited series commissioned by the Moscow Cigar Club and it's President,Dr. Andrei Loskutov.

The cigar was made to honor the Russian poet ,Valadimir Vishnevsky , who not only is a renowned poet but also a renowned cigar lover.

The Moscow Cigar Club celebrated the Poet's 50th Birthday by hosting a great evening in Moscow and presented the poet with a glass jar, of which only 300 jars were made,containing 12 special Robustos and bearing a band with his image on the cigar but also on the special glass jar packaging .

The limited series glass jar was gifted to me by Dr. Andrei Loskutov with who I have been in contact with since a good friend and FOH brother, cigaRRos, brought us together as cigar club Presidents.

Believe me, I tried to make it short but since that failed, lets get to the review.

All of the tobacco in this cigar was matured, blended and rolled in the Pogarskij factory in Russia.

The Wrapper- Ecuador

The Binder -- Nicaragua

The Filler -- Dominican Rep.- Nicaragua

Length, 5 ins. (127mm)

Ring gauge, 50 (19.84mm)

The cigar is very well constructed and the packaging is very original and attrative.

The pre-light aroma is very faint and on a woody grassy note.

The draw is way too easy and loose but I'll survive.

Frist third, the cigar has a perfect burn and a good start on the woody and spicy taste with hints of dry tea.

Second third, the cigar has lost its spicyness and has gone Floral,some nutty hints but on the whole vegetal.

Last third, the smoke has not evolved,it was better at the beginning, it stayed rather mild. I didn't nub the cigar because it was getting a bit harsh and hot.

The Vishnevsky cigar is an interesting smoke because of it's rarity and the story behind it . It's a very mild cigar and easy to smoke.

My notes : 85/100

Thank you Dr. Andrei Loskutov for this unique experience.

[El Presidente]

Great review Guy and thankyou!

I love to learn something new every day and today you have filled my quotient

[Habanos2000]

Very interesting story and review Guy, thank you.

The first aspect that surprised me, well not maybe the first since I was not aware that cigars were rolled in Russia, was the source of the tobacco. Is Cuban tobacco not made available to be rolled outside of Cuba?

[ZAZ]

Wow, very interesting review and awesome looking jar!

Thanks for sharing - I learn something new every day it seems at FOH.

[CanuckSARTech]

Wow - very cool, Guy. Thanks so much for sharing!

[mazolaman]

Very interesting story and review Guy, thank you.

The first aspect that surprised me, well not maybe the first since I was not aware that cigars were rolled in Russia, was the source of the tobacco. Is Cuban tobacco not made available to be rolled outside of Cuba?

I agree.Given the historic links,you would expect the tobacco to be from Cuba,or at least some of it.

enjoyed the review,it's great to see unusual things like this,and to hear the story.

Why do cigar related products always have such great packaging?

[davidl]

Incredible review...I didn't know that they made cigars in Russia! It's nice to hear about an exotic and rare cigar, that is not available to general population.

[dcse]

Great review!

So are there generally available Russian cigars that anyone would recommend?

[android]

Thanks much Guy...always enjoy your post and cigar experience.