Reinado – Grand Empire Reserve

I always like to start my reviews with a little something about the cigar, the cigar maker, or the company.  But, honestly I don’t know much and their website hasn’t really helped.  But, that doesn’t make this a bad cigar.  In fact, I rather enjoyed it.  Perhaps at some time in the future I’ll have an opportunity to review more of their cigars and be able to provide you readers with more info.  In the meantime if anyone knows about this company don’t hesitate to post that info as a comment below this review.

When I first looked at this cigar several things jumped out at me.  It is box pressed. I like a box pressed stick, so I was intrigued.  And it had a very impressive little stout look about it.  Maybe that was due to the double band, or the box press or the combination.  The surface was oily with small veins.  It also seemed rough.  This is definitely a serious cigar.

The stick punched easily and lit without problem.  It produced lots of dense smoke and was very aromatic.

The stick is well constructed.  It had an open draw and a nice dark grey ash.  It burned evenly with an ok edge.  Sometimes full packed smaller cigars tend to be plugged but this cigar maintained and even, if hot burn.

This is a full bodied, strong ‘dinner’ cigar.  It is a heavy smoke that started with earthy notes and cedar.  As the cigar progressed ‘dry’ was the first thing that pooped into my mind to describe the taste.  The cigar acquired a peppery taste about half way in and grew in intensity as I continued to smoke.  At the finish it was mostly pepper and spice with a short after taste.

At a price or around $9 it’s more than I would hope to pay for something like this.  But, it is a well made string cigar.  If you want a big taste, rough, strong, manly and spicy, this will be a good cigar to seek out.