601 Red Label Habano Robusto

This beautiful oily cigar should not be smoked on an empty stomach or half empty in my case. A touch of spice from the start and power comes on immediatly. Volumes of smoke, a fine draw, layered ash and good overall flavor characterize this Pepin Garcia creation.

Pleasant and powerful a great combination.

This is my favorite of the 601 lines. I get a nice full flavor, with a nice amount of Pepper to start, quelled by a nice sweetness. Always a great performer for me.

I found this to be a rather mild to medium 601, I think I'll stick with the Green Labels, though that doesn't mean that this was a bad cigar, far from it. It's a good 45 minute smoke, that keeps a solid white to gray ash. The flavors are subtle with hints of earth, leather, and coffee. I did find the draw just a bit tight, which is an oddity amongst the 601's.

I agree with many reviewers here that this cigar has a peppery/spicy beginning. The first third of the cigar may shock the tongues of smokers who prefer mild smokes. As the cigar continues past the first third, the initial dominance of pepper and spice mellows out quite nicely into a flavor that does not keep up with the strong aroma of the cigar. Although one's nose will give a smoker the impression that the cigar is overwhelmingly powerful, the actual flavor has a nice smoothness to it. Not too sweet and not too spicy, the flavor is well balanced and interesting enough to keep those who stick to full bodied cigars smoking for its entirety. Definitely a medium bodied cigar, the 601 red label is smokeable to the nub.

Another well made with stick with a dark and oily wrapper that draws and burns real good. It's leathery and rather peppery at the start; there is some harshness to it but it does smooth out some as you go. Not super complex either but served well as a strongish every day smoke as I finished the box in no time.

DPG should change his name to Don PEPPER Garcia! Wow but this smoke had a fiery, peppery character! Almost too much for my liking as I didn't feel it was all that well balanced. While the wrapper did have some nice earthy notes, the pepper was really strong. My least favorite of the 601 series but still a quality smoke. I'm definitely going to age a few to see if that smoothes them out a bit. If you like 'em strong you might like this one.

My first 601 of any kind and I look forward to the others. Being a huge Pepin fan I bought three 16 cigar samplers on faith. So far so good. Very Pepinesque spice for the first 3/4" and mellowing thereafter. It's not the best of Pepin's creations but I enjoyed it very much.

The 601 has some pop to it with a oily wrapper with little veins and a nice cap. The smoke was full and had lots of spicy and earthy notes to it. The ash was white and solid. The aroma was a little strong. A very nice full power stick that with time will be complex.

The only great thing about this cigar was it had that unique Pepin taste that no one can create. The only problem was there was nothing else that went with that spicy to back it up. Im a huge Pepin smoker but this is not one of my favorite my him. The wrapper was ok the roll was starting to come up. I had problems keeping this one lit, but could have been the wind since i was on the boat. Just ok for me.

I thought these were kind of brash and uneven six months ago. The downtime has done a lot to balance them out. Still starts with a jolt of grass and pepper that'll make you snotty, but settles quickly into a smooth, balanced groove. I'd have to smoke more of these to be sure, but this seems earthier and not as nutty as other Pepin blends. Leathery core. Power and complexity ramp up noticeably on the second half. I seem to be in the minority, but I find these to be quite strong, even compared to other ERDLH fare. Helluva $5 smoke with good aging potential ahead of it.

This is a nice looking; solid smoke that I had little knowledge of other than it was a Pepin. The flavor was some where between his Cuban Classic and the Blue label. The rich earthy/woody taste was preceded by a real blast of pepper which sporadically appeared through the balance of the cigar. This is a medium bodied smoke with a nice draw and adequate smoothness. As with the other Pepsin’s this stick needs more humi time. Problem; it tunneled once….very unexpected. After correction the burn was even and smoke above average. All though it didn’t knock my socks off, all in all I liked this cigar and now look forward to trying the Black Label.

Outstanding constuction. Perfect draw, ash, aroma, burn, etc., were right on. I think the "spice" on this cigar is a little more muted than other Pepin sticks. The word I go to with this cigar is -- "REFINED". Rich flavor with the right backdrop of spice. Medium + strength. Full - on the flavor. I little pricy, but worth it especially for Pepin/Nicaraguan tobacco fans.

This cigar smells of sweet chocolate pre-light. The draw is easy, little effort needed to pull in alot of smoke. In the first inch there is not much in the flavor profile, hints of cocoa. The cigar picked up with toasty, nutty, and creamy finish that lasted through the remainder of the cigar. The ash is tight and white. There were a few spots where the burn was uneven but not enough to detract from the cigar.

Nice smoke, even burn and smooth draw. Spicy, but I expected that. Not as overpowering as most would have you believe though. Probably would smooth out with some aging. All in all not bad, but not memorable.

The is a solid smoke. Starts out very strong; peppery with a strong molasses flavor. Mellows out and the molasses subsides. Nice earthy tobacco smoke for the rest of the stick with molasses coming in&out in the last third. One thing worth noting is the fact that this cigar produces a ton of smoke.

One dimensional power for the first 1.5", before evolving into something more interesting. Most akin to Pepin's Blue Label, with its occasionally sharp, peppery kick. The second half settles down and develops nice complexity around its leathery core. The further I get into this one, the more I like it. I think I prefer the subtlety and smoothness of Pepin's milder blends (White Label, Nacionales W, Padilla Achilles), but the 601 Red is pretty damned good.

A couple of these have been aging in my humidor and I gave another one a try tonight. The cigar was fairly mellow compared to my first try, but that is often the effect of aging in a well conditioned humidor. I still like these cigar, but people who like strong cigars may lose interest if they keep thm for aging and people who like a mild cigar may still find these a bit too strong. It is a middle-of-the-road effort.

This sample was over-wet, and in fact I had to pick through the box to find one that wasn't potentially moldy. However, it burned fine after drying out to normality. It was quite oaky, pretty spicy and milder in the second half but still strong. It got a bit harsh in the last 2 inches, but the only downside was the fairly tarry tone after the first inch or two. Otherwise a very good cigar.

This cigar is similar to a lot of what Don Pepin makes, in particular the Hirsch & Garcia, not bad, It's smooth and medium bodied, worth trying with a good glass of scotch.

Anything pepin made is hot right now, and combine that with the rgeat products from United, and you have a great smoke. Loved it.

Last Sunday night I went in my closet before going downtown to work my buddies parking lot and grabbed the 601 I had picked up a couple of days earlier. I have been burning my way through cigars trying to find one worth deeming my trademark smoke. In the process, I have been learning to pick out the subtle "notes" and flavors that my tastebuds like and dislike. Anyway, the first thing that observed was the good looks of the thing. Pepin Garcia is a pro at his art. Beautiful wrapper, triple crown, ect. I lit it and waited 'till the ash reached about an inch before evaluating the flavor, my main concern. Now I'm not hard to please, while the different flavors dance in and out, I just like good tobacco. The burn was excellent. Perfectly even. I realized about three inches down that the taste wasn't changing. I would swear that there must have been a mistake! Someone laced this baby with peppercorns! I had to put it out after forty minutes of beatin' down my mouth. Oh well, I might try one again in a couple months..........

Look great, construction is first rate, burn and draw were perfection. Where this let me down a bit was in the taste, which I thought was interesting but mono-dimensional all the way down. If you like woody taste in cigars this might be right up your alley.

This is a new smoke according to the owner of one of my local cigar shop haunts. Probably why he is asking 8 bucks for it....however, it is a great cigar (even better since he gave me a frequent flyer discount). I especially like the oily wrapper on this one. I could feel the oil on my fingers and see it seep out as the cigar burned evenly to the very end. The flavors were rich and hard to get a grasp on....very nice indeed for the experienced smoker. NOT worth 8 bucks though....but I don't thing that many things that go up in smoke are worth 8 bucks.