Cigar Review: Reinado Grand Empire Reserve Elegidos
10 Jan 2013
Reinado is a brand to keep your eye on. The original offering is a good cigar (particularly the small Habanito size), but it’s the follow-up that has been getting the buzz.
That follow-up, the Reinado Grand Empire Reserve, is a cigar I remember enjoying when I first smoked it at the IPCPR Trade Show and one I meant to seek out. Still, whether because they are difficult to find locally or just because I’ve had no shortage of new cigars to smoke, I was glad when I got a few samples to try recently.
The Grand Empire Reserve (GER) currently comes in just one size called Elegidos (5 x 55). It has a soft box-press and looks more like a traditional 50 or 52 ring gauge cigar. In addition to this initial size, introduced this summer, multiple additional sizes are in the works for 2013.
Like the original Reinado, the GER is a Nicaraguan puro made in Condega. It utilizes a “select Habano maduro” wrapper that’s dark and shows lots of oils. It retails for $9.95.
The cigar shows loads of earth, a syrupy sweetness, and plenty of oaky wood. There’s black pepper on the finish. It starts out strong, mellows slightly, and then ramps up to the finish.
Flavor-wise, it’s a cigar smoker’s cigar: full-bodied, gritty, with plenty going on and not too similar to anything else available. Construction is excellent with a quality burn, ash, and draw.
It’s the kind of cigar that begs for a fine, dark spirit. Aged rum, malty Scotch, or well-aged oaky bourbon all fit the bill.
All in all, I really enjoy the Elegidos. Unique, flavorful, and spirited, the cigar gets a well-deserved rating of four and a half stogies out of five.
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photo credit: Stogie Guys
O Boy, sounds like a strong one, I just might have to pass on this one.
nice review, hopefully this will be available locally!