Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Honduran Jamastran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran (Ligero, Viso, Seco)
Size: 6 x 52 “Torpedo”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $5.00

In keeping with taking a break from expensive boutique brands, I decided to take a look at the Ramon Bueso Genesis The Project.

Only the giant CI Conglomerate stores sell this cigar. And its sister, the Odyssey.

This was a gift from Mike W. Thanks Mike.

The cigar is as close to being jet black as possible. It almost looks like fresh tar with a purplish tinge to it. It has a beautiful oiliness and is very smooth to the touch. Seams are invisible and only a few veins are visible. There is some lumpiness to it which the oiliness highlights. And the cigar is very light in the hand. Its double cap is expertly applied.

The cigar comes in 4 sizes: 5 x 50, 6 x 50 (Torpedo), and 6.5 x 60.

The entire CI conglomerate sells this. Some you know, and some are a trade secret. But they own a lot of online stores that you never would have guessed. Yet, not long ago, Swedish Match bought the whole CI Empire.

I clip the cap and find aromas of earthiness, spice, wood, nuts, a sweet fruitiness, cinnamon, exotic spices, and toast…and a boat load of cocoa at the freshly clipped cap.
Time to light up.

Dark chocolate is the first flavor. Followed by a nice toastiness, a large bushel of nuts, it is very earthy, sweetness, wood, leather, and a big dollop of red pepper.

The strength of the Ramon Bueso Genesis The Project begins at classic medium.
A musty flavor ensues.

I’m not a fan of torpedoes. It forces me to leave a long trail of drool along the cap. By the time I finish this cigar, the photos will look like it is a normal capped cigar from all the clipping I must do to save you from swinging chunkage at the sight of my droolage.

The cigar is good but I’m nowhere the sweet spot. Flavors are plentiful but ordinary. And then again, I’m only an inch in. C’mon Katman, give the cigar a break, you snob!

The coffee element becomes stronger. There isn’t a hint of creaminess yet so it doesn’t feel complete. But the sweetness component keeps on chooglin’.

I’ve never smoked this brand. I tend to stay away from anything that CI gives a full page of PR to in their catalogs month after month. The PR storm tells my gut that something is being shoved down my throat and a good psychiatrist will tell you that a good PR campaign will make you try something whether you want to or not. (“Yes, Mastah!”)

This is definitely an old school blend and based on all the crap I read about the great and wonderful Bueso, it makes sense.

The sun is beginning to head towards my dining room window so in a few minutes you will get a better look at this penis..the cigar, not me. I’m sorry, but it looks like a big black dildo…I’m just guessing. I really don’t know what those look like. Ahem.

The char line is wavy and needs a correction.

At the 1-1/2” mark, the dark chocolate is ladled on with a big spoon. It becomes the main flavor. The red pepper is right behind it. All those other flavors have become very subtle by this point.

Finally. Creaminess appears giving life to the other flavors. Something about that element that brings out the best in a flavor profile.

OK. We have movement now. Flavors are becoming expressive. The char line evens out as the second third begins.

I’m beginning to like this cigar. I get that deep complexity in my gut as the strength moves upwards.

It is a very heavy handed flavor profile. There is nothing light about it. It is meant to be a sledge hammer and it is succeeding.

Now the other blend, Odyssey, is advertised as a medium body smoke. I have one of those thanks to Mike.
The second third is definitely the sweet spot; or at least the start of it.

Flavors of nuts and toast reappear. The spiciness takes a hike. The earthiness is heavy and makes my gut ache with lust….I mean it aches with….?….never mind.

My dear friend Skip emailed me yesterday asking about my wife. I told him and he replied when I asked about his health, that he has to lose 150lbs. OMG. Now Skippy was always a big guy…over 6’-4 tall. And though he lives in So Cal, I saw him last in 2008 and this boy could eat. Man, oh man. You could lose a hand if you reached over to his plate to steal a french fry.

I shall give him my wisdom on losing weight. I’ve lost 35 lbs. in a year eating less of course, but using Atkins Shakes as meals and snacks. Worked like a charm.

But I gave up my beloved potato chips. I haven’t had one in I don’t know how long. And if I sneak a couple, they make my stomach hurt from the grease.

Back to the cigar. I fall into old man health issues at the drop of a hat. Sorry.

Remember when you were really young and you were sitting around with your parents and their friends or relatives? All they talked about were their illnesses. I swore I would never be like that. Oops. Too late.

I am within an inch of the halfway point and the chocolate is driving the bus. Either this is the blender’s intent or this stick needs 6 months of humidor time.

The thing about most $5 sticks, is that they are rudimentary. Nice flavors but not complex. That is unless you take a look at “The Katman’s List of 91 Great Cigars in the $5.00-$6.00 Range” which is listed on my home page.

And by the way, if you have a smart phone, you probably won’t see the search window in the upper right corner of the home page. All you will see is me with my space helmet. You must adjust your viewing screen to see it. A reader wrote me yesterday complaining he couldn’t find that little bugger.

I’m dead center at the middle of the cigar. It has smoothed out considerably. It begins to have a real sense of complexity now. And that gut ache has gone away.

Here are the latest flavors: Chocolate, creaminess, nuts, black cherry, raisin, a bit of root beer, wood, and leather. So I grab a Diet Coke to enjoy my NYC egg cream experience to enhance the flavor profile.

Now I’m really digging this stick. And then the dreaded nicotine shows itself. I’m a little woozy.
The stick is now full bodied.

There is a flavor explosion and I am not quite near the last third yet. Damn fine cigar and belongs on my list of good $5-$6 cigars.

The laptop screen is blurry. I see dead animals in the tunnel of light beckoning me towards them so they can eat me. Is that right? Can’t be.

I stare down at the cigar and it looks like it is laughing at me.

Holy shit, this cigar tastes good. Because of the massive PR campaign, I would have never tried it. So thanks Mike.

I feel drunk.
And I think I shat my pants.

The last third begins. And I slow way down. At this point in the cigar, it reminds me very much of an Illusione. That lump in your belly. The hearty earthiness.

For some reason, it has all the stereotypical flavors of Nic puro; yet it is not.

Black licorice joins the flavor profile.

I’ve smoked 4” and it has taken me 90 minutes to do so.

The last third begins to really kick my ass. It may take me 3 days to finish it. Should have had a bowl of cereal first.

Break time. Must eat something or succumb to the kick.
OK. Better now..still a bit woozy, but still a bit better.
Funny..now the stick tastes like Rice Chex.

I should have stated the obvious, but the cigar made flavor bomb status about 2” ago.

I am now delirious. Remember what it felt like to be coming on to that blotter of acid you took 20 minutes ago and you just feel strange. Bingo!

This cigar, even though it is heading me towards the light, is a brilliant compendium of flavor. A plethora of tastes. A perfection of balance. A lithium pill full of a sea of swarming simbas. Now you get the idea.

With 1-1/2” to go, I am barely keeping my head above water. The flavors are so delicious that I don’t want to stop. My heart and brain are telling me that if I don’t stop, my liver will explode. Fried onions with that?

Only for you dear readers would I punish myself with this magnitude of nicotine. When I’m done, I plan to lie on the floor and watch the room spin while the dog licks my ass. When this happens, I always have to redirect the dog to my balls. Now that’s perfect sex.

I am near the finish line. I’m exhausted.

This cigar is for stout hearted men only. Wimps may not apply.

I’ve contacted my rabbi and he is sending over a moil to do a double circumcision. That’s how stout hearted I am.

It just dawned on me. The big stick with its black and purple looks exactly like my dick. It didn’t always look like that but since I gained weight, it just doesn’t get enough air.

The cigar finishes very smoothly. No harshness or bitterness. But does leave one with the faint feeling of coming down from taking acid. And I don’t mean a DE blend.

The Ramon Bueso Genesis The Project is a good cigar.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, ramon bueso, Ramon Bueso Genesis The Project Cigar Review