D & R Tobacco Don Giovanni Sigaro

The variety of cigar leaves include the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, and Indonesia. Their characteristics include a little mustiness and leather, a bit of earth, spice, herbs, and wood, a sour note here and there, a drop or two of cocoa and coffee, and a fair amount of floral sweetness. The grassy, tart and tangy citrusy Virginia is just evident enough to occasionally notice. The strength is a tad past medium, and the taste is almost in the center of medium to full. The nic-hit is a a couple of steps past the center of mild to medium. Won’t bite or get harsh, but does sport a few rough edges. Burns cool, clean and a little fast if not hydrated as this ribbon cut tobacco is dry. Has a consistent woody, smoky, creamy sweet, rich cigar flavor that translates into a mildly lingering after taste, and stronger room note. Requires few relights, and leaves almost no dampness in the bowl. Can almost be an all day smoke for experienced cigar smokers, and repeatable for those who aren’t. It has a fuller, deeper, richness as compared to the Sigaretta offering.

-JimInks

I purchased a pound of D&R DGS on sale at P&C for $24. What a bargain it proved to be.

Appearance wise, it looks like cigarette tobacco and is not especially fragrant, with just a hint of cigar leaf aroma. It is cut to a fine ribbon and is a mixture of mostly dark brown tobacco (probably the cigar leaf) and some golden tobacco (probably the Virginias). Since it was very dry, I added about a quarter cup of distilled water to the one pound bag and let it re-humidify for about ten days. I packed most of it away in jars to age and put a couple of ounces in a small jar to sample.

Tonight, I loaded a large, deep Stanwell briar with the DGS, packing it fairly tightly since, even after humidification, it is very "fluffy." It lit easily and burned well, requiring only one relight during a twenty minute smoke. It burned fairly fast to a gray ash, leaving no moisture in the bowl. DGS is a fairly strong tobacco, nicotine wise.

For the first third of the smoke, the flavor of the cigar leaf predominated, along with a spiciness that reminded me of perique (although the description says it contains only cigar leaf and Virginia tobacco). The flavor was that of a medium strength Dominican cigar, like a Macanudo. About half way through, the cigar flavor faded and the Virginias came to the fore, very rich tasting and fairly sweet, reminding me of McClelland 5100 Red Cake. Towards the end of the bowl, the sweetness transitioned to a plum-like flavor, again reminding me of perique but without the spiciness.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable smoke, with a lot of flavor and enough complexity to maintain one's interest. I'm very glad I purchased it and can't wait to see how good it is after six months or a year of aging. For the price, this is a great pipe tobacco. Heck, it would be a great tobacco if it cost three times as much. If you're a pipe smoker who also enjoys a good cigar occasionally, I promise you will like this.

The tobacco is a shag cut, and it is a mix of browns and tans. The pouch note is earthy and sightly sweet. It comes very dry, and I have been smoking it without hydration - packed pretty firmly. Eventually I may try hydrating it a little. I will report back if that is a good or bad experience.

Smoked this is quite good.There is a fairly full earthy flavor with a slightly sour edge and some sweet. There are mild cigar notes on the snork, and no toppings that I can discern. The dry shag burns quickly, and it is a short smoke, but it did not burn hot for me. It was a very satisfying tobacco-flavored smoke. I think this should be more popular than it is.

This is a solid 3 on the scale for me. I may buy it by the pound when I am done with the 100 g tub and bump it to a 3.5.

D & R Tobacco - Don Giovanni Sigaro.

Another of the few D & R blends where the cut isn't borderline emaciated! This isn't a shag, or finer, it's a steadfast ribbon. Medium and light brown in colour, smells like cigar leaf (no surprise!), is all smokable, but way too dry; as this isn't bulk the loose pouch can't be blamed!

Right, the smoke. Due to the dehydration I can't say it's exactly astonishing that this takes to the flame with the utmost ease. Nor am I shocked that it burns at lightning speed. On the upside the flavour from it isn't too bad. The cigar leaf is WAY above the Virginia; quite dry, a touch of pepper, slightly astringent. I get hardly anything from the Virginia. Maybe a spot of sweetness, but no grass, etc. Back on the negative side of things it gives a smoke that's too warm. But it doesn't bite.

Nicotine: above medium. Room-note: not nice.

Don Giovanni Sigaro? Rubbish pragmatically, but not a total tragedy as the taste isn't horrible. Two stars:

Somewhat recommended.

Don Giovanni Sigaro has become my daily smoke. This cigar blend is smooth, tasty, and the taste is consistent from beginning to finish. The ash is a clean gray with no moisture at the bottom of the bowl. After smoking this blend in the same pipes for a few days, no one complained of the tobacco smelling strong. When McClelland stopped making Dominican Glory Maduro, I tried Sigaro and found it to be similar, but not as strong so I could make it my daily smoke.

This is the most cigar-like taste I've had in a pipe. Its fairly strong in taste and in nicotine and probably not something I would smoke more than once daily. The cigar leaf varieties are delicious. I detect no added flavoring. It doesn't bite me even if not hydrated. The room note will probably not endear you to others as it's basically cigar smoke (which I personally love, but most non-smokers and some smokers may not).

So far I think this is my favorite of the four D & R blends that I've tried. A tobacco this good at less than $25 per pound. Thanks Tobaccoreviews and all prior reviewers for informing me of this great baccy!

I enjoy cigar leaf as a flavoring condiment, both in commercial offering like Lane’s Andullo, and in my own blending recipes. But this goes too far. When I first tried it I found it like smoking a cheap cigar in a pipe. Earthy, musty, coffee grinds, and a peppery rawness. Very little presence of Virginia, mostly earthy hay, rather than grass. With three years to mellow in jar, the rough edges softened, and some of the Brazilian Virginias came through to provide a smoothing rich, dark foundation to the mid-palate. Most importantly, the peppery rawness had abated to a tolerable level. At this point I was able to finish off my supply as a blending component (mostly with milder Black and Burley type blends).

If you have a can, let it age, unless your palate is tough as nails! If you enjoy the occasional cigar and want a little of that flavor in your pipe I suggest looking at some of the John Patton blends, or Peretti’s Cuban Mixture which is fantastic.