Graycliff Elegante, 2001: Weekend Review Competition

[Guest Nekhyludov]

Dimensions: 38 x 7 1/4"

Year of Manufacture: 2001

Blend: Brazil, Nicaragua, Honduras

Binder: Indonesia 

Wrapper: Indonesia 

Background: Graycliff has been among my favorites since I started smoking cigars in the late '90s, and I've tried always to have a box of the original red label on hand. The Elegante, even 15 years ago, was hard to come by. The brand was created by Avelino Lara after he defected to the Bahamas to collaborate with Enrico Garzaroli at the Graycliff hotel. Lara was reputed to be the architect of the original Cohiba brand in Cuba, although his role was actively downplayed by Cuban officials after his defection. By the time this box would have been rolled, it was said that Lara himself - at that point well past retirement age - still personally rolled only the Elegante, due to the difficulty of the vitola. As a result, it was always even tougher to find Elegantes than the rest of the already-rare line. 

All of that said, I'm enjoying the invitation to review an NC so I can write up an old favorite.

Appearance: These cigars are tidy, but not particularly attractive. They're visibly well-made, but the wrappers have a bit of a matte, earthy color to them. It's the kind of color that would put me off a box of Cubans. The cellophane is stained yellow after a decade and a half; it's brittle and breaks open along the seam. 

Pre-light: The aroma on this cigar is surprising. Other sticks from this box have been extremely mild, with a vague, peaty sort of aroma. Not this one. This one has a precise sweet barnyard smell of medium intensity. It's firm, spongy, and consistent to the touch. Just right. 

First third: It lights easily, producing even, cool combustion and a razor-straight burn line. The draw and smoke production are both Goldilocks - not too little, not too much, just right. For the first third, this cigar diverges sharply from its box-mates. I've generally found that Graycliffs are not great for aging; they seem to lose some flavor distinction and end up pleasant, but muddled. This one, however, has a profile that immediately and vividly reminds me of Diplomaticos and Quai d'Orsay. There's a spine of mild, toasted baking spice sweetness with some cedar notes beneath. The aroma is bready and has a hint of toasted pine nuts. This is a profile I haven't ever gotten out of any Graycliff before. If the entire box of Elegantes are smoking like this right now, they won't last much longer. 

Second third: The flavor profile remains essentially the same. Of note here is that where a Quai d'Orsay would pick up in intensity by adding heavier baking spice flavors, the Graycliff adds body by taking on some darker, earthier notes. The aroma becomes fuller and slightly less delicate; near the midpoint, there's a subtle but precise aroma of fir tree - like a Christmas tree. The performance remains impeccable, which contributes quite a lot to my enjoyment of a cigar. 

Final third: The final third sees a fairly linear development of the existing flavors. The unique factor at this stage is that the baking spice, wood, and light tar combine into a sweet stewed plum flavor. Just a touch of pepper is noticeable on the front of my tongue, and it recurs on the retrohale. This is shaping up to be a richer, more decadent cigar than any Graycliff I've ever had - young or old. Performance is still perfect, but a bit of heat is now detectable, and builds through the final third.

Summary: This cigar was surprising in almost every way. While the construction and performance were expected, the flavor and aroma were totally different from what I would have imagined. Before tonight, I would have bet that this box was well past its prime, and could only be counted on for an occasional pleasant and unremarkable smoke. That was totally invalidated in this case. I've been smoking Graycliffs for 20 years, and this one was fully distinct from any I've had before. And for the first time in my entire smoking career, I am absolutely certain that if I smoked this cigar blind, I would never guess where the tobacco was grown. I've always been relatively sure that I would be terrible at blind tastings - distinguishing between marcas - but I always felt confident that I could reliably tell a Cuban from a Non-Cuban, Nicaraguan from Dominican, etc. Not this time. This was a startlingly good cigar, and entirely unexpected. I desperately hope the rest of the box is this good, but my experience suggests I may have just caught an extreme outlier. 

Score: 98. I can't imagine wanting anything more in a cigar - rich, complex, evolving flavors of baking spice, earth, and nuts. Perfect performance. Velvety texture and body. I can only accede to docking 2 points because it got a bit hot in the last two inches. 

[Isaac]

Nice review!!  I was able to visit the Graycliff Factory last year.  Interesting outing. 

[Guest Nekhyludov]

  On 10/7/2017 at 2:30 AM, Isaac said:

Nice review!!  I was able to visit the Graycliff Factory last year.  Interesting outing. 

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That's on my bucket list. I'd love to visit the factory and get some customs rolled. 

[Isaac]

It was pretty dead when I was there. They only had two rollers working. The cigars were a bit expensive too. 

[Islandboy]

Based on the lore surrounding Graycliffs, it's definitely on my bucket list to try one. This one sounded sublime. Nice review, thanks.

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks for this review it. I did't know about Graycliffs but the history around the old Cuban rollers spearing out around the Americas is fascinating.

[TheMonk]

Excellent review!

[PigFish]

Nice review mate. I suppose I should not 'avoid' reading NC cigar reviews... Nice job!

-Piggy