Don Cirilo An Evening Companion

Felipe Gregorio has a varied product line.  They have many different brands that smokers of all types enjoy.  So, I was eagerly anticipating something new from them.  This year at the IPCPR show, they released a line called Don Cirilo.  The cigar is named after Don Cirilo, Philip Wynne’s, who owns the brand, wife’s great-grandfather who was a tobacco grower in the Dominican Republic.  The cigar makers have stressed that this is a rare cigar made only n a small batch.

When you first look at the cigar you notice that it is box pressed.  It has a great feel, supple and very oily.  The predominant veins highlight a rich tobacco.  The color is a medium reddish brown.  I used a flat cut and lit the cigar without problem.

The cigar is made at a small factory in Tamboril, in the Dominican.  It is well constructed.  The stick burned evenly keeping a nice tight edge.  It had an open draw and an unremarkable ash.

I liked the flavor of the cigar.  While it is billed as a full bodied smoke for the experienced smoker, I thought it was much more mild than that barely making it into the medium or ‘lunch’ category.  I tasted sweetness and nuts in the first third followed by a cherry flavor.  Sometimes when people hear cherry they immediately think of flavored cigars.  This is a good tasting cigar that is not infused or unnaturally flavored in any way.  As I continued to smoke the sweetness remained but with a tiny touch of cinnamon or nutmeg at the finish.  In general the flavor was complex resulting in the favorable score.

The value of the cigar is in its rareness and flavor.  If, as they say, it is a small batch, or ‘limitada’ then it is worth a premium.  And the $8.00 price is not absurd.  The line comes in four sizes with the smallest being a Rubusto that sells for $6.50.  I smoked a couple of these and enjoyed them both.  They are on my humidor list.