Robusto, 5" x 50 ring gauge, approx. $8
I first saw this cigar at the Burns event last year where I met Don Pepin Garcia. Honestly, it is another one that could have been in Burns' humidor forever and I just did not notice it because of the fairly simple, unadorned band. I definitely would not have noticed it was a Don Pepin stick if someone had not point it out to me as his name is not that prominently featured. At the time I passed it up as there were too many other sticks I wanted to buy, but I later picked it up at Leaf and Ale in Knoxville. El Rey de los Habanos is a mild cigar made with all Nicaraguan tobaccos in Miami. It was introduced nationally in 2005 and comes in 5 sizes. The wrapper is a Corojo Rosado Claro.
This was a good-looking cigar for the most part. At first glance the wrapper was quite oily and a shade lighter than what I would call medium-brown. The vein structure was rather light and delicate, except for one large vein near the head. The wrapper was also a little messy near that vein and the cap was less than perfect. The aroma from the wrapper was fresh barnyard and hay, while from the foot there was rich chocolate along with a whiff of manure. Prelight, I got flavors of caramel and hay along with a little spicy tingle on the lips.
I toasted and lit this stick with my long-time, go-to torch, a Xikar Executive. The first few puffs revealed that this would be a different DPG experience: it had some mild coffee and leather flavor, but even more hay and roasted nuts. The smoke was fairly creamy and on the mild side of medium in body with just a touch of pepper in the retrohale. The first third shaped up to be almost exactly what the initial puffs promised--a little coffee, a little leather, nuts and hay--along with a steadily increasing pepper spice and occasional hints of sweetness in the form of caramel. After starting off a little jagged, the burn straightened up very well and the ash held on for an inch even in the day's breezy conditions.
Early in the second third I started getting some hints of some fall spice--maybe cinnamon or nutmeg, hard to pin down, but very nice. The pepper spice leveled off to a nice burn on the finish and there was more of a roasted nut flavor to the entire smoke, not just on the retrohale.
During the final third, an earthiness crept in to go along with the roasted nuts. Overall, this was a very nice medium-bodied smoke that I will definitely smoke again. The DPG website calls it "mild" but I would disagree--to me it was definitely medium-bodied with tons of flavor and complexity and more strength that I would have imagined. I really did like this cigar and would recommend giving it a try if, like me, you overlooked it for one of the myriad other Don Pepin blends on the market.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
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