601 Black Label Ecuador Robusto

Short sweet and hard to beat.

These are great if you like a lot of pepper!. In fact, pepper is mostly what the flavor is with this cigar. It does become somewhat woody in the final 2 inches. Sometimes I taste a nice sweetness in the second and third tiers. The wrapper was changed on this cigar to a lighter, slightly more yellow wrapper a year and a half ago but the flavor seems to remain practically identical to the original blend. Construction problems seem to plague these more often these days as it seems to be happening with many Pepin sticks from Esteli.

I am more of a maduro man, however this was a great cigar. They age quite well, and if you are patient you will be rewarded. If you smoke one as soon as you buy it, the flavors are a bit one dimensional and lack complexity, but a few months in the humidor really bring them out. I would recommend this cigar with a nice cup of coffee in the morning.

All power and no FLAVOR. I get what DPG was trying to do, create a blend that allows the filler to take center stage instead of the wrapper. A little bit of tweaking on the blend and it could have worked. With this cigar it just makes for a strong cigar with no depth or dimension to the flavor.

I had this one with my mornign coffee, and it fit the bill. Strong for a shade wrapped cigar, mild compared to the green label 601. I like my smokes full, so this was perfect to start the day.

This is an interesting offering from DPG - a strong, spicy cigar with the soft CT wrapper. I found this to be a good overall cigar with nice balance between the cedar, toasty wrapper and the peppery spice indicative of a DPG stick. Agree with other reviewers that this is one of the strongest CT wrapped cigars on the market.

It was good. I like most Pepins but this didn't rock my world. Not very complex or strong. I did enjoy the burn and cedary flavor but aroma was a bit harsh. Would try again, especially other sizes.

Another example of Don Pepin's line of cigars which are nothing but strong. No flavor, no depth, no richness, just strong smoke........yukkkkkkkkkkk

This smoke was a little veiny and had some oil to it on the wrapper. The cap was nice and cut even. The foot lit a little uneven and had a soft spot half inch into it. The taste was medium to full with notes of wood and pepper. A mid day smoke with some kick.

Gorgeous soft Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. This is, IMO, the fullest bodied Connecticut on the market today. The balance is amazing. Excellent morning/afternoon smoke.

This cigar would be well liked from AF regulars but it's just not to my liking. It is somewhat on the plain side, and yes it has a peppery undertone, but almost to the point that it just is not enjoyable. Had minor burn issues, but draw was smooth and produced nice smoke. Flavor was one dimensional, never peaked, never changed, just a constant white peppery tone. It actually had a dusty affect that was not pleasant. If I had to stay within the 601 label, then I would prefer the Habano, I know spicer right, exactly; but it smoked better and had character.

On seven months rest. This retains a slightly papery, dry, almost tannic bite. Otherwise, it's a fantastic blend. Spectacular draw. Nutty, leathery, quite a handful for a morning smoke. Like many other Pepin blends, I suspect this one is designed to peak years, not months, from creation.

I typically do not like the flavor of Conn. Shade wrappers. While this was probably the best Conn. Shade cigar I have smoked in my 20 years of cigar smoking, I still am not a big fan of that flavor. Now don't get me wrong. This is a real cigar with lots of body and fullness. Plenty of strength. Not for beginners. This aint no wimpy Macanudo. But it still has that creamy and slightly "papery" Conn. Shade taste that I do not care for. But you may love it, so give it a try if you like that Conn. Shade flavor but want more strength and complexity. And the construction is A+. Try the 601 Habano if you want more zest in your smoke. That cigar is my current favorite!

A different shade of conn wrapper. A solid core of cracked pepper mixed with some light woodiness. After the first inch I noted some mild nutty flavors with some hints of cream. The finish was mostly peppery. I did notice an aroma that would pop up that I couldn't identify, but I did really enjoy this smoke. A box worthy stick. Great value.

Seriously peppery, this cigar smokes like a maddie but looks like a mild customer. I had a bit of a burn issue, but it was fine with a retouch. You can find these for well under the MSRP of 5 bucks.

Like many of Pepin’s productions, the 601 Connect opens with a good dose of pepper delivered straight to the sinuses. It’s full bodied from start to finish, but it goes through a fair number of changes and shows a lot of complexity. The wrapper imparts a really nice buttery aroma to an otherwise spicy Nicaraguan brew — an unusual combination, but for whatever reason it works. After the mid-point the smoke becomes creamier in texture and the flavor takes on a leathery aspect. The spice lightens up a bit, but this cigar never strays too far from the pepper mill. The aroma from the wrapper is a little bit overpowered by the full bodied blend at this point, but it’s still present enough to maintain the balance of the cigar. This is an unusual blend -- one of the strongest CT wrapped cigars out there -- but worth the price of admission.

Continuing my recent CTS/ECCT wrapper kick, I picked up 10 more of these after sampling some singles. Man, these throw some smoke! I had a minor runner when I hit a small soft spot around halfway, but it recovered quickly. I found it to be medium-full, nutty, and spicy with hints of the creaminess that will certainly come with age. I agree with the Top25 staff review -- this is a good smoke today, and a lead pipe cinch to be a better one later. And don't assume from the wrapper that this can't be an after dinner smoke. I smoked this one after hefty meal and it was definitely up to the occasion.

Very nice looking cigar. Dark connecticut shade wrapper, could almost pass for an Ecuadorian wrapper. Firm bunching throughout with triple cap. Wrapper has minimal veining with a slight oily sheen. It has an attractive black band with just a 601 in the center. OK but nothing special.

Prelight aroma is barnyard like. Initial draw is very good and produced a sweet tobacco taste. Initial puffs produced a burst of rich woody tobacco flavor and spice. Extremely flavorful initial flavor that was outstanding but quickly fded to a straight peppery taste.

Draw and smoke volume is excellent. Flavor turned to strictly just pepper with a peppery woody\balsa finish.

The flavor drops off quickly to just pepper and becomes a med-full bodied, full strength straight pepper flavor. Its a shame because the initial flavor was amazing.

Burn is straight with a solid dark grey ash. Aroma is non distinct. Became straight forward and one dimensional. The last third brought on some cedar notes. These were smoked OTT so time may change them.