Wrapper: Habano Rosado Claro / Costa Rica
Binder: Costa Rica
Filler: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic
Size: Nuevita (6 x 56)
Strength: Just Below Medium → Just Below Medium-Plus (last couple of inches)
Body: Medium → Full (just before halfway)
Price: $11.84 single / $118.40 10-count / $236.80 box of 20
Factory: IGM Cigars, Costa Rica
Blender: José González Ferrer
Release: 2024 (Regular Production)
Smoking Time: 1:25
Experience Rating: 97
IGM has kind of disappeared from the scene.
There used to be a buzz about the company, especially when Katman reviewed some of its cigars a few years ago. At the time, he was the only one sparking much discussion about them. But after his bad experience trying to work with IGM on a blend, he stopped talking about the company, and I believe he pulled his reviews down because of it.
It must’ve been pretty bad for him to do that.
I rediscovered IGM after conversing with the founder of Grace Cigars, who told me that he was using the factory to manufacture his blends. When I revisited IGM’s website, I discovered that it had released a new blend since the last time I checked them out: the Zarpe.
IGM had also established a broader U.S. retail presence. Several retailers now carry the company’s cigars, but Little Havana Humidor appears to offer the widest selection and is the only online retailer I found carrying the Zarpe.
As for the cigar itself, in a word, it’s excellent.
Synopsis
Strength begins just below medium, rises steadily through the first-half progression, remains level through the home stretch, then makes a final modest increase that holds through the nub. Body starts at medium, surges toward full during the first-half progression, reaches full in the home stretch and remains there. Activity rises gradually from ignition, levels off through the last couple of inches, then eases slightly for the last inch and nub.
The cigar has a nice, smooth skin. Its color is a gorgeous deep Rosado brown, with a light sheen of oil covering the surface. Despite the ring gauge, it’s fairly light in the hand. The rolling job is nice and even, with no soft spots, but the cigar doesn’t seem very densely packed.
The wrapper gives off barnyard with a slight mustiness and light floral sweetness. The foot is bready and woody, with a touch of malt and more floral sweetness. The draw is loose, with lots of airflow, and tastes of hay and sweetgrass.
Once lit, the cigar opens with a very nice, gentle, and solid combination of dark-roast coffee, leather, malt, vanilla, and cream. Roasted cashew and almond follow, while a light, indistinct background sweetness rounds out the profile.
Strength begins just below medium, while body is already medium.
The cigar settles quickly. I’ve been smoking a lot of cigars that have settled quickly lately, and this one is no exception. It’s not a bold start, but it’s certainly declarative.
Teak and cedar enter and integrate with the coffee, leather, and nuts to form the core. I love that. There’s also an earthiness grounding the profile. On the retrohale, a bouquet of mixed flowers adds a nice lifting touch.
As I move through the first half, the core is confirmed and the profile is nicely structured. What I find amazing, and I don’t know how long it will last, is the complexity in the retrohale. Each puff offers something different. It begins with flowers, followed by Cheerios, then toffee.
Wow. Now some vanilla shows up.
The leather in the core steps forward. The profile also begins to thicken as the spice, which has been more of an afterthought until now, finally comes forward and rests on the roof of my mouth.
I’m really loving the flavor of this profile. It’s distinct. It has the softness of a classic Dominican cigar, but it smokes like a slightly spicy Cuban. It kind of reminds me of smoking a Cohiba Siglo VI.
As I pass the first third, the complexity on the retrohale continues with nuts, wood, and cereal. This is a genuinely new experience for me.
The burn rate is a little quicker than I prefer, but that’s understandable considering how lightly packed the cigar is. Hopefully, it will slow down during the second half.
Just before the halfway point, a gorgeous transition occurs. The body jumps close to full, followed by a burst of flavor like buckshot from a shotgun shell: honey, sweet bread, cedar, and crème brûlée.
The spice slowly ebbs and flows in intensity and seems to wander randomly around my mouth. Right now, I can feel it on my tonsils. Pretty cool.
At the halfway point, there isn’t much change from the first-half progression. The complexity remains concentrated in the retrohale, while the spice continues wandering aimlessly.
The profile now seems established, or canonized in Katman vernacular, and it’s downright delicious. If I were to make a country-of-origin comparison, this stands with some of the best Dominican smokes I’ve ever had. I say Dominican because, even though there is Nicaraguan tobacco in the filler, none of that classic Nicaraguan robustness appears in the smoke.
This is a rich, creamy, medium-strength cigar that is incredibly enjoyable. I’m already thinking about getting a box or a 10-pack.
In the home stretch, the spice really begins to assert itself. It’s no longer moving around and has replanted itself on the roof of my mouth. It’s persistent and pronounced, but not at all overwhelming.
Amazingly, strength hasn’t moved.
The complexity on the retrohale is waning, but those flavors seem to have gathered back into the profile. Along with the core, the presentation is thematically woody and grainy, with a touch of vanilla. The background sweetness adds a nice exclamation point to the finish.
The draw has tightened slightly. It’s still loose, but there’s now some resistance, and that slows the burn rate significantly.
This smoke takes me back to Cabarete Beach in the Dominican Republic last year.
Two nights before my son’s wedding, about 15 of us gathered at a beachside bar and grill called Ojo Club for drinks and snacks. Down an alley beside the restaurant was a little local cigar shop called D’Ángel Cigar Lounge that sold its own excellent farm rolls. I purchased a bunch of them for the evening.
I remember one with a lighter wrapper that was florally sweet, medium in strength, and had gorgeous body. This cigar reminds me of a more refined version of that.
The great thing about that night was that we had ordered a few platters of appetizers, and everyone had at least four rounds of drinks, probably more. My son asked whether I wanted to split the bill with him. We both figured it would be somewhere around $300 to $400, considering the number of people and how much food and drink we had consumed.
When we received the bill, we just laughed. It was $150. I gave our servers a hundo to split because the service had been so good.
As I reach the last couple of inches, another transition arrives with a strong hit of exotic wood: teak, rattan, and cedar. It’s accompanied by a bevy of baking spices, including nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, clove, and a touch of cinnamon.
Lemon and orange zest appear like grace notes in a musical score. Then stone fruit emerges in the form of nectarine, plum, and peach.
The complexity of this cigar is wonderful.
The spice remains planted in place, but its intensity has lowered. Strength ticks up ever so slightly without quite reaching medium-plus. I love when cigars behave this way. The moderate strength seems to allow for maximum expression, and this cigar is incredibly expressive.
I also just realized that the burn line has been perfect throughout the experience. I made one correction to fix a wonky line immediately after lighting the cigar, but I haven’t touched it since.
In the last inch, the core turns darker. The coffee moves into espresso, and the woody elements begin to char. Despite the darkening, there’s no accompanying compression or increase in strength. That’s amazing to me.
The spice intensifies slightly, but it remains well-behaved and makes no attempt to take over. The cream thickens, but the spice mitigates it and refuses to allow the profile to compact.
Best of all, the overall profile remains intact. There’s no reduction, even at this point.
I really want to nub this cigar, but the loose draw is creating a lot of heat. It remains expressive and delicious right to the end.
I’m disappointed, but not because I have a problem with the cigar. I just don’t want it to end.
In Cuba, “zarpe” marks the moment a sailboat raises its anchor to sail to the open sea. In Costa Rica, it means to linger with friends even though you know you need to leave. And I want to linger with this cigar.
Though I haven’t reviewed them all, I’ve smoked several IGM cigars, including all the Kalavera blends, the 537 Sublime, and the IGM Mountain Frog and Tucan. I also recently smoked the Flor de Puriscal, but after one cigar, I think it needs months and months of rest, just as the Frog and Tucan did.
They’ve all been very solid cigars.
But out of all the IGM blends I’ve smoked, the Zarpe is the standout. It’s structured, composed, and delicious from foot to head, with gorgeous transitions arriving at precisely the right moments to keep my interest piqued.
It’s too bad what happened with Katman, but this is a blend I’ll be returning to often.
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