Cigar Review: Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Limited Edition 2017

Earlier this year I reviewed the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA 2017, noting it reminded me “to revisit the regular offerings in the Jamie Garcia Reserva Especial line.” It also inspired me to pick up the new Reserva Especial Limited Edition 2017 at a recent My Father Cigars store event. The new cigar was released in May and carries a hefty price tag of $17.

The Limited Edition cigar first appeared in 2011. That release came in boxes of 16, whereby 15 had a Broadleaf wrapper and one had an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper. This year, only 3,000 boxes of 16 are being made, a slight decrease from the 2011 release. (The ribbon helps differentiate this release from the 2017 release.)

The 2017 release is all made with a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper (no experimental wrapper single this time) in a toro (6.5 x 52) format. The recipe sports Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos, including reportedly two leaves of strong, flavorful, but hard-to-grow Pelo de Oro from the the Garcia’s Nicaraguan farms.

The cigar features many of the oak and chocolate notes of the regular Jamie Garcia line with considerably more intensity and strength. It is highly complex and full-bodied. Initial dark chocolate and minty spice notes quickly turn to sharp black pepper and barrel char. There are also roasted notes and coffee bean, although the interplay between wood, cocoa, and spice dominates the two-hour smoke.

While one of the two cigars I smoked had an unfortunately tight draw for the first quarter, it soon opened up and a sturdy, monotone, light gray ash developed that held for two full inches before I tapped it off. Besides that self-correcting issue, construction is excellent.

This is a significant step up in complexity, flavor, and strength from the regular line, and even from the Especial TAA 2017. Fans of Connecticut Broadleaf cigars will want to seek this one out, even if the price means it will probably be only an occasional indulgence. That’s why the Jamie Garcia Reserva Especial Limited Edition 2017 earns a rating of four and a half stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys