Seth's Humidor

Grimalkin

When you review cigars you are aware of who else is reviewing and you begin to follow all the others out there. One cigar that I have heard wonderful things about is the Grimalkin by Emilio Cigars. Emilio Cigars is owned and run by Gary Griffith who is an incredible person in the industry. They are a fairly small organization but are working with some incredible people. There are only three lines in their lineup and two of which are made by AJ Fernandez. The maker of the third, Grimalkin, is not disclosed but I have my ideas as do others. There are no details on the tobacco in the cigar released but I imagine there are some wonderful leaves from Nicaragua in there, and I imagine the wrapper is a habano seed grown in either Nicaragua or Ecuador. I smoked the toro vitola in the lineup and I would give you the exact measurements but I did not measure them. I think it was 6" with a 50 ring gauge.

The cigar has a wonderful aroma of leather, spices and cocoa and is rolled beautifully. The triple cap, hint at maker, is just beautiful and so is the wrapper. It is rolled perfectly with no soft spots. As I light up the cigar I am greeted with wonderful notes of leather and spices (cinnamon and cloves) and a nice cedar wood finish. The first third is incredible with a wonderful amount of flavors. I am picking up lots of leather and spice on the front and there is a finish of coffee, cocoa and wood on the finish. It is medium in body and has a wonderful burn to it. As I enter the second third the flavors intensify and I am getting lots more wood and coffee. The spice has decreased some and is now paired with the sweetness of rich earth. There is this cinnamon flavor that I am getting at the midpoint and I am also getting this orange peel as well, really amazing. It is incredibly balanced and complex. It is still medium in body and is smoking wonderfully. The burn is still perfect and I am incredibly impressed with this cigar. I have had cigars with great burns but this cigar is just rolled so well that the burn in phenomenal. I usually don't care that much if there are some waves in the burn but because of the burn in this cigar the leaves inside are really burning like they are suppose to and giving off great flavors. I am in the final third now and just when I thought this cigar could not getting any better it does. I am picking up notes of chocolate, orange glaze, cinnamon, cloves, leather and cedar as well. The cigar burned evenly all the way down to the nub and never got hot. Remaining complex and flavorful all the way to the end this cigar was incredible.

I am in love with this cigar and I am definitely putting it in the running for the Top 25 cigars of the year and looking forward to my next smoke. This is a 96 rated cigar and truly worthy of a box purchase. I don't know who made it or where the tobacco is from and I don't even care. Really worth your time. Follow Gary Griffith on Facebook and Twitter and go to their website and find out where you can get these sticks. Wow, really a great cigar! Emilio Cigars

Grimalkin (This sample was give courtesy Emilio Cigars)