Toro, 6.5 x 52 ring gauge / approx. $16
I avoided buying these when they came out because I really was not a big fan of the original Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial...I saw no point in spending $16 or more for a special edition of that stick. At the Atlanta Tweetup, Nada Jumper (who along with her husband, Jeff, owns the Nadi Cigars brand) told me that it was not much like the regular release stick and I should try it. She had an extra one on hand and gifted it to me...and now I'm smoking it for this blog entry. According to information I found on the interwebs, this is supposed to be similar to the regular stick, but much richer. It uses Cuban seed Nicaraguan filler, a Nicaraguan Pelo de Oro binder and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper from a lower than usual priming. They made 3,700 boxes of 15 sticks (which also features a bonus 16th stick with a Connecticut Shade wrapper that is supposedly the basis for next year's LE).
The cold draw on the Jaime Garcia Limited Edition 2011 was fairly effortless and had a nice earthiness dominating the taste buds, but notes of dark chocolate and red pepper came through, too. Early puffs revealed notes of leather and cedar in the mostly earthy mix and a peppery retrohale. So far, I found it to be different enough from the regular release to be intriguing, but not so different that you could not tell they were related...a family flavor, as I like to call it. As the first third progressed, I got a much stronger cedar note, which was what I recall the regular cigar being like...and what I wasn't thrilled about with it.
By the time the second third started, though, the cedar became more subdued and some rich sweetness from the Broadleaf wrapper started to become evident and I felt like the whole thing was better balanced. I paired the Jaime Garcia LE 2011 with some Maker's Mark Bourbon; I've often said that bourbon pairs well with almost any cigar and this was no exception.
The rest of the cigar smoked very nicely...mildly sweet with notes of earth, anise and cedar. Aside from much of the first third, it was indeed richer and better than the regular production Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial. Construction was perfect, with a great draw, even burn line and ability to hold a long ash. This LE 2011 turned out better than I had expected. Thanks again to Nada Jumper for gifting me this one.
I avoided buying these when they came out because I really was not a big fan of the original Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial...I saw no point in spending $16 or more for a special edition of that stick. At the Atlanta Tweetup, Nada Jumper (who along with her husband, Jeff, owns the Nadi Cigars brand) told me that it was not much like the regular release stick and I should try it. She had an extra one on hand and gifted it to me...and now I'm smoking it for this blog entry. According to information I found on the interwebs, this is supposed to be similar to the regular stick, but much richer. It uses Cuban seed Nicaraguan filler, a Nicaraguan Pelo de Oro binder and a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper from a lower than usual priming. They made 3,700 boxes of 15 sticks (which also features a bonus 16th stick with a Connecticut Shade wrapper that is supposedly the basis for next year's LE).
The cold draw on the Jaime Garcia Limited Edition 2011 was fairly effortless and had a nice earthiness dominating the taste buds, but notes of dark chocolate and red pepper came through, too. Early puffs revealed notes of leather and cedar in the mostly earthy mix and a peppery retrohale. So far, I found it to be different enough from the regular release to be intriguing, but not so different that you could not tell they were related...a family flavor, as I like to call it. As the first third progressed, I got a much stronger cedar note, which was what I recall the regular cigar being like...and what I wasn't thrilled about with it.
By the time the second third started, though, the cedar became more subdued and some rich sweetness from the Broadleaf wrapper started to become evident and I felt like the whole thing was better balanced. I paired the Jaime Garcia LE 2011 with some Maker's Mark Bourbon; I've often said that bourbon pairs well with almost any cigar and this was no exception.
The rest of the cigar smoked very nicely...mildly sweet with notes of earth, anise and cedar. Aside from much of the first third, it was indeed richer and better than the regular production Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial. Construction was perfect, with a great draw, even burn line and ability to hold a long ash. This LE 2011 turned out better than I had expected. Thanks again to Nada Jumper for gifting me this one.
I like the Jamie Line although I haven't had any of the LE stuff I would like to give them a shot but at the price I may stay away
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