Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur is a marbled medium brown and has some decently raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the head is well finished. There are two bands, both in a red, white and gold color combination. The primary is the traditional design for the brand and also denotes the line, while the secondary denotes the sub-line. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of musty cedar and earth, while the foot brings earth, cedar and some spice. The pre-light draw brings aged cedar and light earth, along with a mild spiciness on my lips and the tip of my tongue.
Seth: The Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur is decent in appearance. The cigar is finished with a dark Natural wrapper, and it has a light coffee bean coloring. There are medium sized veins present throughout, and it has a fine sandy grit texture. The aromas are that of tobacco, cedar, hay, sweet spices and faint earth. The bands pop against the wrapper, but they need some improvement.
John: The Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur comes in cellophane and does not have a UPC sticker. It features a primary PG band along with a secondary 35th Anniversary band. The cigar weighed 15.6 grams, and I measured the humidity at 63.4% with the Humidity Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included medium-strength barnyard with earth. From the foot, I was getting sweet tobacco and barnyard.
Jiunn: The Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur is a mouthful to say and type. But in terms of the looks of the cigar, it’s great. The wrapper is incredibly oily Colorado and shows uniform toothiness. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas give major barnyard stank goodness.

Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with aged, toasted cedar and light amounts of earth and spice. At a quarter inch in, the spice becomes more defined as slightly dull black pepper and increases a bit in fullness. At three quarters of an inch in, the pepper mellows a bit and a light creaminess joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, lightly zingy black pepper and mild earth. At an inch and a half in, the pepper picks back up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the aged, toasted cedar is up front, with earth in the middle of the profile, black pepper just behind and some creaminess in the background. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third begins with cedar and hay notes. Tobacco qualities are present as well with faint earth, cream and soft spices. Medium in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with sweet tobacco leading off, combining with wood as mildly tannic wood makes up the finish and post draw. After a few puffs, light-plus baking spices join the finish and linger into the post draw. As the cigar approaches the halfway point of the first third, some sweet tobacco begins to reassert itself on the finish, adding a touch of balance to the otherwise wood-forward profile.
Jiunn: The first third is balanced and nuanced with creamy roasted nuts, cafe au lait, cardboard and minerals. Retrohaling gives a mixture of spicy cedar and minerals. The finish is fairly short with soft cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth increases a bit. At a half inch in, the toast level increases. The retrohale is now toasted cedar and earth, with light black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth a bit behind, black pepper in the middle of the profile and creaminess in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third continues with those cedar, hay and tobacco notes. Faint cream and soft spices are present as well with earth on the finish. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The second third gets going with sweet tobacco combining with wood and baking spices at medium-minus strength. Light-plus strength tannic wood joins the finish again as the second third settles in. Dryness begins to settle on the palate through the post draw as the cigar continues. Bread combines with dry wood in the center of the retrohale as the cigar moves toward the halfway point. A few puffs later, baking spices begin lingering into the post draw at light-plus strength. As the cigar transitions from the second to the final third, bitterness moves into the finish, signaling a shift in balance heading into the closing portion of the smoke.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile is worse. There’s less creaminess and sweetness. It’s mainly a mixture of minerals and cardboard. Retrohaling is the best part because it’s unchanged from the first third. Strength and body remains medium.

Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar. At three quarters of an inch in, some minerality joins the middle of the profile. The retrohale remains toasted cedar and earth with light black pepper. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with black pepper and minerality in the middle of the profile and creaminess in the background. The strength bumped up to slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third is in line with the first and second. Not much change in flavors. Cedar, cream, hay and earth notes. Soft spices and minerals on the finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: The last third greets me with creamy wood up front, while dry and bitter wood make up the finish. Post-draw dryness increases to medium strength as the last third continues. By the halfway point, sweet tobacco teams up with wood in the center of the profile, briefly softening the sharper edges. Through the bottom half of the final third, toasted earth moves into the post draw, closing out the profile with a more grounded, earthy character.
Jiunn: The final third still shows the same minerals and cardboard, with the sweet and creaminess of the first third in the distant past. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a real struggle as the cigar was wavy throughout and the cigar had canoes through the first half with multiple touch-ups and re-lights and then tunnels through the second half with more re-lights.
Seth: The burn was perfect from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight in the first third, with ash consistently falling off in roughly ¼-inch increments. The burn continued straight through the second third. Some waviness developed in the last third, but nothing that required attention.
Jiunn: Aside from a complete re-light within the first third, no issues with the burn performance.

Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
Seth: The draw was perfect throughout the cigar.
John: I measured the draw at 50 inches of water with the CigarMedics draw machine. Subjectively, I found the draw to be 1½ to 2 notches toward the resistant spectrum, placing it just outside the ideal range.
Jiunn: Draw performance was great, giving the ideal air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with aged, toasted cedar and light amounts of earth and spice. The spice became more defined as black pepper fairly quickly. Later, some light creaminess joined in. The second third saw the earth and toast levels increase. The final third saw the earth increase some more and some minerality joined the middle of the profile. The burn was atrocious with canoes, tunneling and multiple re-lights throughout. The Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur had a nice start with a nice combination of flavors. It took a step down in the second third as the combination of flavors degraded and maintained that level the rest of the way. I hope the others had much better burn profiles, as mine was terrible. I’ll have to see proof of better burns to even consider returning to this cigar.
Seth: I found the Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur to be a one-dimensional cigar. It was not a bad cigar, but lacking and not an anniversary cigar. It smoked like a blend out of Occidental from beginning to end. Strong cedar and hay notes with some tobacco qualities. There was a lack of elegance and complexity with the cigar. It has been some time since I smoked a Paul Garmirian cigar, but this does not do justice to what old Paul Garmirian cigars smoked like for many years. They did not smoke like a blend out of Occidental, but Davidoff.
John: The Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur delivers a classic, restrained Dominican profile that leans heavily into traditional wood-and-tobacco territory. Sweet tobacco plays an important supporting role throughout the cigar, particularly in the second third, where it helps elevate the experience and earns the cigar its strongest segment. That said, the cigar never fully escapes recurring dryness and mild bitterness, especially as it moves into the final third. While these elements never become harsh, they do limit the overall depth and keep the profile from evolving into something more compelling. For construction, it had an excellent burn and a draw that, while slightly resistant, remained consistent and predictable. The cigar rewards a slower smoking pace, but even with patience, it ultimately settles into familiar territory rather than breaking new ground. In the end, this Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur is a solid, traditionally styled cigar that performs well and shows flashes of balance, particularly in the middle portion. It lands in average territory not because it falters significantly, but because it plays things safe and never quite delivers a defining moment that sets it apart. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 49 minutes.
Jiunn: This Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur was an overall average experience. While I did enjoy the interplay of sweet creaminess working off the cardboard and minerals of the first third, the majority of the smoking experience lacked depth and attention focus. I don’t recommend the Anniversary edition and you can find better tasting PG within their core lines.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

4.98

Cost/Point

$4.82

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$4.17

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.95

Cost/Point

$4.03

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$4.07

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Paul Garmirian PG Gourmet Series 35th Anniversary Connoisseur