This week I’m taking a look at a hometown cigar. That’s right, Atlanta, GA has a cigar manufacturer! And that cigar maker is El Primer Mundo! But if you come to Atlanta looking for a large warehouse of slowly fermenting tobacco, you won’t find it. Neither will you find rows of skilled cigar rollers working in a local shop. That’s because El Primer Mundo’s cigars are made in a factory in Esteli, Nicaragua, and specially blended by the Nestor Plasencia family.

So why base a cigar business in Atlanta instead of a more likely place in Florida? I asked president Sean Williams just that when I bumped into him last Tuesday in a local B&M that serves as his second office. “Because I live here,” was his response. Hey, that’s a good reason in my book. I’m thrilled to have a cigar company based out my recently adopted home town.

I’m not sure what cigar I had originally lined up to review this week, but my mind was changed when he generously offered me a cigar that doesn’t yet appear on the company’s website. Though it’s been in production long enough to be available in a number of shops in select shops around the U.S., I have the warm-fuzzy of feeling like I’m introducing a new cigar to all the readers of the Stogie Review. After nubbing the cigar while Sean did the things a president of a company does on a laptop in a cigar shop (namely cruising the CigarLive forum), I revisited the humidor to grab a few more for this review. This cigar is question is the Primer Mundo Rosado Oscuro perfecto, and here’s my experience with it.

Cigar Stats:
Size: 6 x 54 (or 52)
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua & Panama
Smoking Time: 1 1/4 Hours
Beverage: Water
Price: $7.00

The Pre-Smoke
Superficially, this is a classy looking cigar. I’m partial to antique maps, and accordingly, I like the look of the band that boasts of an antiqued map of the world. The perfecto shape completes the look. And as you probably know from reading my reviews, I’m a sucker for a good looking cigar.

In inspecting the cigar more closely I found the wrapper to be smooth with some thin veins. In the second Rosado Oscuro I smoked I detected some lumpiness. In all three I found the cigar to be firm and nicely packed.

The scent of the wrapper was a pleasing combination of molasses and rich barnyard. Of course, as a perfecto, a cold taste wasn’t possible. So I clipped the cap with my flamboyantly-red Xicar, I got right down to business.

The Burn
One question I see pretty frequently is how do you light a perfecto? Do you clip the foot or do you light the tip as is? Well the proper and intended way to light a cigar like this is to light it without cutting it. And that’s exactly how I proceeded. (Though you could clip the end, you’d just be missing out on some of the initial flavors of the burning wrapper.)

The burn of the Rosado Oscuro varied considerably in the three I smoked. In the first, the burn was good, but the draw was much tighter than I prefer. In the second, the burn was great and the draw was just right. And in the third and final cigar for this review, the draw was also good, but the wrapper began unraveling at the foot, making for a cosmetically unappealing smoke.

A good reason to leave the band on your cigar

In all three cigars the burn line was consistently even, if you look beyond the flapping wing of tobacco that appeared on the third cigar. Each produced an attractive ash, growing easily to about two inches of before dropping, which speaks to me favorably of the construction.

Taking flight on a wing of cigar wrapper

The Flavor
Unfortunately I can’t claim the wackiest description of this cigar’s flavor. (You know how I try!) Sean tells me another local cigar connoisseur told him it tasted like “Honey Nut Cheerios.” I’m jealous. And I can see how you might arrive at that conclusion.

In the first third the flavor was predominantly a creamy, sweet nutty flavor that struck me as very reminiscent of creamy peanut butter. Additionally I detected notes of cinnamon, and more of a slightly different toasted nut flavor with more sweetness. (Yep, I can see Honey Nut Cheerios in that.)

In the second third, the nutty flavor continues and is joined by some leather and with some spice and pepper. And in the final third the leather takes over and is joined by occasional pockets of an herbal flavor I’m having trouble identifying. I also detected a bit of coffee and nuts as the final third progressed.

In terms of body, I place this cigar right around a medium body.

The Goatee Cam: Useful? No. Entertaining? Yes.

The Price
With a MSRP of $7, this cigar might not qualify as an everyday smoke for a lot of people, but it definitely falls in a comfortable range of affordability for most cigar smokers. Though I haven’t checked the price of the entire line, I suspect the less challenging cigar shapes will probably save you a bit of money and make it even easier on the wallet.

The Verdict
I’m very happy to say that I really enjoyed this cigar. And I’m not just saying it because Primer Mundo is based in Atlanta. Nor am I saying it because Sean’s big enough to wad me up into a ball and slam-dunk me into a dumpster the next time he sees me. (Though I’ll probably email him to find out what he thinks of the review before I drop by that shop again!) It’s just hard not to love a cigar that tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios. I was a little disappointed by the unraveling wrapper of the final smoke, but I suspect that was just a bad bit of luck as I didn’t have any issues whatsoever with the wrapper in the other two cigars. And in spite the footloose and fancy-free wrapper I was still able to smoke the cigar with a little help from the increasingly singed band.

Liked It: Yes (Which prompted me to buy more and review it.)
Buy It Again: Yes
Recommend It: Yes

The Cigar In Action
At the request of one of the readers, I’m taking one step closer to a proper video review with an animated GIF! (1997, here I come!) Since this part of the review is a bit experimental, I’d like to hear what you think. Do you like this animated image better than the fifteen images I normally post, or would you prefer I got back the tower of burn? (The image shown below is the second, optimal smoking experience.)