The Gellis Family Cigars Absolutos by Warped

BRAND / CO:  Warped

CIGAR:  Gellis Family Absolutos
VITOLA:  Toro (Box Press) - 6" x 52
STRENGTH:  Medium - Full
WRAPPER:  Nicaraguan Sun Grown, Natural
BINDER:  Nicaragua (Sun Grown)
FILLER:  Nicaragua (Sun Grown Condega, Estelí, Jalapa and Ometepe)
ORIGIN:  Nicaragua, NACSA   (Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A.)

APPEARANCE & CONSTRUCTION:   Average
A very leathery looking warm tan and brown.  There's a light sheen and good mottling.  The wrapper has a soft, velvety texture to go with the soft box press.  Because of that, the veins are all visible but pressed in.  They also have a lighter tan color surrounding them than the rest of the wrapper giving it that old leather look.  The Gellis Family logo on the band is simple and the green and gold coloring works well with the natural hues of the wrapper. The only issue I have with the construction is little pieces of wrapper are coming off around the cap, but fortunately nothing that's creating a burn issue, unraveling or exposing the binder.

DRAW & BURN:   Good / Great
The draw is spot on. The ash is super light, basically white with some very dark accents.  It's very tight between the cracks and striations and holds well.  The burn line is a little wavy to start, but pretty even and reaches close to dead even by the midway point.  I let the ash hold through the first third before dumping it.

FLAVOR PROFILE:   Great
Immediate pepper spice and baking cocoa.  There's a nice kick and cedar woodiness that accentuates that string spice flavor.  I'm getting some breadiness and caramel / molasses sweetness.  Hints of coffee, dry earth which is blending with the leather I'm picking up.  But it's all wrapped up in a nice medium creaminess and this blend is a party.  It's on the drier side, but the flavors are blasting.

With the second third, no notable transitions.  Still bringing a good amount of flavorful spice, like the entire spice rack between pepper and cinnamon and everything in between.  But right at the halfway point, it's like somebody narc'd on the good time and we had to turn the music down.  The blend gets flat and very woody without all the supporting flavors being muted.  It comes back a little, but it's not as potent and enjoyable as it was in the first half.

The final third brings the party back, which is a great relief because it was getting pretty lame during that down bit.  There's still no real changes, just a return to what made this blend super enjoyable from the getgo. I would say this hit full spice bomb status in the final third and that's not a bad thing at all. 

OVERALL EXPERIENCE:   Great
When it's firing on all cylinders, it feels like this should be like Adam West Batman and putting the big POW, WHACK and KA-BLAM all around you.  Big flavors and a good punch, it's bringing what we really love about sungrown tobacco.  The challenge to being a party that goes hard is it's tough to keep that pace up the entire time and the Absolutos struggles with that too.  And like a hardcore party, it's fun once in a while but not something I necessarily want to do on the regular. 

Purchase Singles or by the box HERE

Reviewed by Sean McCloskey of The Collective