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I am a fan of many small cuban cigars but always find myself wanting to light another one up straight after 30 minutes of pleasurable smoke so when weather permits I usually smoke larger cigars. However the winter is now well and truly upon us in the north of England so I decided it's time to move onto the smaller "winter smokes".
This lead me to a box of 12 Trinidad Reyes I bought a little over a year ago which have been sitting in my humidor untouched until last night. Upon inspection the cigar seemed well made, a decent yet unremarkable, smooth wrapper, slightly spongy to the touch with no hard spots. After cutting the cigar and taking a pre-lit draw the reyes tasted mild, smooth and slightly earthy. I had heard many great things about this particular cigar so by this point I couldn't wait to light it any longer. My initial thoughts were it seemed slightly acidic to the taste and fairly bland, I tried to ignore that and thought after a few more draws the cigar will settle. 1/3 in and I was still getting the same acidic taste and the flavour profile seemed uninspired, just slightly earthy leathery taste, smooth but unchangingly one dimensional. I was starting to feel disappointed, "maybe it is an unlucky bad one"? "Maybe it's a little green and needs more time in the humidor"? I was thinking to myself, looking for an excuse for this "little gem" I'd heard so much about.
Half way down and now feeling slightly dejected new flavour hit me, again smooth and mild but now hints of coffee, some floral notes, all mixed with the original earth and leather to create a much more pleasant flavour. This is what I was waiting for and expecting from the start. the last half was brilliant and I ended up smoking it until I burnt my fingers. It was a beautifully balanced almost perfect second half, a stark contrast to the first. By the last third a sweetness crept it's way in, a sort of vanilla hint that rounded this cigar off and made my experience all the more enjoyable.
25-30 minutes after I started, I had finished. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I'm hoping the poor start was a one off because if it was and the other 11 Reyes I have left to smoke are like the second half of that one then, in my opinion, they are one of the best cigars money can buy. I may be speaking prematurely of course and will wait until I have finished the box before forming my final opinion, however I would give the Reyes a 7/10 on this occasion but with very high hopes for the rest after spending a little extra time in the humidor.
This lead me to a box of 12 Trinidad Reyes I bought a little over a year ago which have been sitting in my humidor untouched until last night. Upon inspection the cigar seemed well made, a decent yet unremarkable, smooth wrapper, slightly spongy to the touch with no hard spots. After cutting the cigar and taking a pre-lit draw the reyes tasted mild, smooth and slightly earthy. I had heard many great things about this particular cigar so by this point I couldn't wait to light it any longer. My initial thoughts were it seemed slightly acidic to the taste and fairly bland, I tried to ignore that and thought after a few more draws the cigar will settle. 1/3 in and I was still getting the same acidic taste and the flavour profile seemed uninspired, just slightly earthy leathery taste, smooth but unchangingly one dimensional. I was starting to feel disappointed, "maybe it is an unlucky bad one"? "Maybe it's a little green and needs more time in the humidor"? I was thinking to myself, looking for an excuse for this "little gem" I'd heard so much about.
Half way down and now feeling slightly dejected new flavour hit me, again smooth and mild but now hints of coffee, some floral notes, all mixed with the original earth and leather to create a much more pleasant flavour. This is what I was waiting for and expecting from the start. the last half was brilliant and I ended up smoking it until I burnt my fingers. It was a beautifully balanced almost perfect second half, a stark contrast to the first. By the last third a sweetness crept it's way in, a sort of vanilla hint that rounded this cigar off and made my experience all the more enjoyable.
25-30 minutes after I started, I had finished. Overall it was an enjoyable experience. I'm hoping the poor start was a one off because if it was and the other 11 Reyes I have left to smoke are like the second half of that one then, in my opinion, they are one of the best cigars money can buy. I may be speaking prematurely of course and will wait until I have finished the box before forming my final opinion, however I would give the Reyes a 7/10 on this occasion but with very high hopes for the rest after spending a little extra time in the humidor.
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