New Addition to Arandoza’s Battle of the Bands

Arandoza Cigars is a family owned company that apparently started early 2011, launching its first line of cigars called Blue Label in 2012, with light blue bands. This cigar was reviewed by my compatriot in October 2012 and he gave it a 3.5 out of 5. At the 2013 IPCPR, Arandoza announced the “rebirth” of the medium bodied Blue Label line with a deeper, bolder blue in the cigar bands. This differentiates it from the White line of Arandoza cigars targeted at the full bodied flavor market. I call this the Battle of the Bands (blue and white), both of which are Nicaraguan puros. I rated the new Blue Label a 3.5 also – consistency is a good thing. Well, at the 2014 IPCPR Arandoza added the Red Label to its Battle of the Bands.

The Red label is made in Esteli, Nicaragua, same as the other labels and also uses Nicaraguan binder and fillers. However the Red Label uses an Habano wrapper that is so dark that it is almost oscuro, but not quite. Rather it looks like dark chocolate. Normally a dark wrapper does not reliably indicate the strength of the cigar but in the case of the Red Label, dark is strong. The Red was firm with no soft spots and had a protective foot wrapper.

The Red starts out with a strong flavor of spice and earthiness with an under taste of nuts. The burn was slightly uneven and the ash was well formed. Smoke volume was abundant and creamy. Half way through, the Red included black cherry flavor and some spice. The draw was average and there were few hints of sweetness. The Red is strong enough to stimulate anyone’s saliva glands, definitely full bodied.

The SRP for the Red is $7.00, a lot of flavor and strength for the price so I consider it a decent value. I rate the Red Label a 4 out of 5, above our ratings for the Blue and White Labels.