PIO Overture 1996 No. 2.....is no Peeeeeuwww......

I found myself in San Francisco a few weeks ago on a business trip as I intended to remind my clients that I still exist and was sitting out on the balcony of my hotel room on the top floor one Sunday afternoon after a lunch of chicken Shwarma from this great little place not too far away called Oasis. As the current state of our poor economy weighed heavily on my mind & heart (yours too, I’m sure), I considered (not really) hurling myself over onto the Streets of San Francisco, expecting that, naturally, Karl Malden & Michael Douglas would find me and investigate my tragic & untimely death.

Instead of going through with it, I reached for a PIO VI Torpedo.



Name: PIO Overture 1996 No. 2
Country of Origin: USA (Miami)
Size: 6 x 52 (Torpedo)
Filler: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Binder: Ecuador
Wrapper: 12-year old Ecuadorian



This sucker was a pretty cigar, dark, veiny & brooding (how appropriate), that displayed nice, solid construction.

I whipped out my trusty Xikar cutter and the thing sliced through the beautiful cigar like a hot knife through butter.

Prelight draw was easy and tasted of leather.

It was 2:10pm, 57 degrees outside on a beautifully clear, San Franciscan winter day amd I was drinking water, not vodka.

The cigar lit unevenly at first (probably my fault as I scanned the nearby balconies & rooftops for ‘Naked Happy Girls’: http://www.reuters.com/article/press...08+PRN20080107 and didn’t pay the necessary attention to lighting properly) but then evened out and the first taste from the lit cigar that hit my palate was something spicy and the cigar gave off a nice, nutty aroma.





I’m not sure if it was the wind or not but the ash didn’t hold too well and fell off in little bits at times. This didn’t really bother me, I’m just stating the facts. If you want your ash to hang on like a cat dangling from a branch, well, this might bother you. The ash was like dirty snow, more grey to dark grey with a tinge of brown; definitely not white.

The cigar gave off nice wafts of billowing smoke which I enjoyed as I tried to shut out the annoying sound of the damn car alarm going off below me.

As I continued to enjoy my afternoon smoking this cigar, I noticed that it would slightly tunnel on occasion but would quickly correct itself.

The ash continued to flake off in bits and the cigar went out on me once but relit easily.

And then it went out on me again at the beginning of the 2nd 1/3.

3rd relight was at 3:05pm and I don’t think it was due to a lack of attention. Honest.

4th relight was at 3 : 20pm so this sucker’s got some legs (and I’m a slow smoker) but I started getting a little frustrated.

At 3:30pm, the cigar went out again and I gave up as the thing started getting a little bitter.

Overall, despite some burn issues, I’d say this cigar had some decent flavor and I’d certainly give it another shot. I’d just hope the burn issues were unique to being in San Francisco. While I can never tell you the actual flavors I taste in a cigar, other than the leathery taste during the prelight inspection and the spiciness I noted on the initial light of this one, I can tell you this cigar was medium-bodied.

Thank you for reading!

(And I'd like to give a shout out and special thanks to MithShrike (Matt) of Tex Cigars for supplying this cigar! Thanks bro!)