PIO Resurrection
PIO Cigars from Little Havana in Miami, which is previously known as PIO VI Cigars recently launched a new line, named The Resurrection. Alberto Medina, owner and President of the company picked this name after a long legal battle and a break from doing what he loves best: Cigars! I read somewhere that this line was named due to him getting back into the business and having a “resurrection” of his life and his business.
There are a total of five rollers who blend the cigars at the factory in West Miami. The Resurrection is a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro with an Equadorian binder, and a Nicaraguan, Equadorian, and Dominican fillers. They are all a box pressed cigar ranging in price from $6.00 – $10.00. The total production is no more than 600 boxes monthly. This is truly a “boutique” cigar. Alberto and I exchanged a few e-mails and he seems to be a very down to earth guy who is passionate about what he does. He sent me a few cigars to review a few weeks ago, and due to the busy holiday, I am just getting around to posting this up.
Size: 6 1/2″ X 48
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Equadorian
Filler: Equadorian, Dominican, Nicaraguan
Price: $6.50 – $10.00
Strength: Medium
Appearance/Wrapper:
Upon first glance, the cigar has a rugged look. There are veins showing, and it has some small splotches of different shades of brown. The band is nice and simple. There was a double cap on the cigar.
Construction:
This is not a very tightly rolled cigar. It was somewhat soft compared to most cigars I smoke. There were no soft spots, and it was very uniform as far as density goes. This is not the best construction due to the visible veins on the wrapper, and the overall appearance.
Draw/Burn:
The burn was a little off. I did let this sit in the humidor for about a month, so I know it was not due to that. The draw was very loose and produced tons of smoke. It needed a few touch-ups along the way to keep it burning well. The ash was very white and flaky. It burnt at a faster pace than I am used to due to the loose roll.
Flavor:
First 1/3: Spiciness, and pepper which slowly creeps up on you. It has a very earthy flavor with a creaminess and a hint of cocoa in the background. I also picked up some roasted peanut flavor.
Second 1/3: The spice mellowed out to a dull pepper with the cocoa shining through a tad more. I also picked up on some leather and some cooking spices.
Last 1/3: The spice intensified in the last part with even more leather and nuts, with that earthiness from the beginning.
Strength:
It started out as a medium full, then dropped to a mild to medium, and then returned to a meduim full strength.
Final Thoughts:
The first thing I thought was that this could use just a little more aging to meld all those flavors together and mellow it out and take some of the “edge” off of it. The burn was ok, and the construction was not all that great. It did have some good flavors, but it just does not seem that it was blended as well as it could have been. If the wrapper was nicer and the roll was a bit tighter, I believe it could be much better. I will let the others rest and revisit this one at a later date. IF I had to rate this, I would give it an 86.
Review By: John B
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