This past weekend Stogie Press visited our friends from Kings Cigars down at Xaviers’ Cigar lounge in Hallandale Beach FL. It was as excellent event of cigars and Art in the Park, While talking to Harris Safra, the owner of Xavier’s I was introduced to Jan von Vistisen the man behind Royal Danish Cigars out of Denmark.
Jan was kind enough to gift me one of his premium cigars the Regal Blend Queens #1 Belicoso . The Queens #1 was a very impressive looking cigar with a dark oily maduro wrapper and decorated with a footer band that tells the story of the cigar and a red ribbon that runs up along the side of the barrel, over the tip, and back down the other side. The primary band was elegant and adorned a small crystal in the center.
According to the Royal Danish website:
Regal Blend – Danish West Indies is based on the original classic Danish aristocratic formula from the time when the Danish West Indies were part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the King’s ships brought back tobacco from Caribbean to the Royalty. Under 250 years of Danish rule tobacco was grown, cured and rolled for the pleasure of the Danish aristocracy and now made available for cigar aficionados around the world. This hard to find very rare premium tobacco limit our master rollers to maximum 8500 cigars per month.
The Regal Blend is part of the Royal Danish Cigars® 200 year anniversary collection, which includes 4 unique blends made according to old Danish traditions.
- The King of Denmark™ – Secret Blend,
- The Regal Blend – Danish West Indies™
- The single estate Single Blend™ Vintage Edition 200 Year Anniversary
- The Havana Blend®
After briefly talking to Jan, I learned that the Regal Blend is a double ligero style of cigar. I knew that would pack a punch and I decided to let it rest in the humidor for a few days and enjoy it after a nice steak dinner.
The Royal Danish Queens #1 is 5×52 Belicoso that has a dark rich chocolate-brown maduro wrapper that already had an oily sheen to it. I gently removed the ribbon and slid off the footer band. Man, this is a beautiful looking cigar! I was not sure if I wanted to smoke it or eat it, but my right mind told me to smoke it. The foot had a sweet and spicy scent to it and the barrel smelled of sweet fermented tobacco. The tip was well capped and there was only a very slight amount of veins on the wrapper. So I clipped the tip about half way down and took a few dry draw puffs. The draw was a tad restricted telling me it was going to be a slow burning smoke. The dry draw had a hint of pepper and the wrapper had a wonderful sweetness as it graced my lips.
I usually torch a cigar up at this point but this was so delicious I decided to just savor the dry draw for a little more as I read the story imprinted in the footer band. I like the fact that each cigar is numbered and includes the initials of the roller. That makes me feel like royalty; as if this cigar was made for me and shows great pride in the cigar itself.
Royal Danish Regal Blend Queens #1
Well it was time to fire up the Queens #1. I took great care in toasting the foot with a cedar splint and then firing it up. The initial puffs hit me with a decent dose of pepper. the smoke volume was medium to start. The draw remained restricted but not to the point where my cheeks would fall in. As the Queens #1 burned deep into the 1st third there was a developing chocolate flavor coming in and the pepper faded into the background. The chocolate flavor continued to ratchet up, and as it entered the 2nd third it was like a Dark Chocolate Hershey’s Bar. The sweetness of the wrapper and aroma added to the relaxing smoking experience. The light grey ash was tight and stayed strong well into the 2nd third.
Just as i was enjoying the Queens #1 a fruity aroma developed off the foot and there was some cedar notes that entered the profile.The smoke was now ultra smooth on the retro-hale, Did I mention this is a terrific smoke?
When I spoke to Jan, he mentioned he is trying to break into the US market with his cigars and they have partnered with Davidoff so that should help for sure. I see no reason why this cigar would not please the American cigar lovers.
Near the end of the second third there was a bitter-sweet flavor coming through that shifted to caramel and chocolate. I really like it when a cigar makes that bitter-sweet transition and then rewards you with a new flavor sensation.
The Queens #1 finishes with notes of sweetness and wood and the head had a slight salty taste. The strength was medium through most of the 1st two-thirds and then picked up in the final to more of a medium-full with a renewed pepper burn on the retro-hale.
Overall the Queens #1 is an amazing smoke and should please the most discerning palate. It had a medium amount of smoke production throughout and required one minor touch up near the 2nd third. If you are not in Europe you can order these from The Danish Cigar Shop online. They run about 13 Euros, which, at today exchange rate, is a bit more then 13 USD. I want to thank Jan and Royal Danish Cigars for this fine smoke and Harris from Xavier’s Cigar Lounge for introducing us.
Royal Danish Regal Blend Queens #1
If you want to spend like a king they also have the Queens #1 in a special edition
Our 5″ Torpede, QUEENS 1™ REGAL BLEND – Danish West Indies, comes in an ultra luxury version encrusted with Swarovski crystals and decorated with 24kt gold art. There are not two identical cigars. The production is limited to only 30 cigars per day due to the extensive and time consuming cigar art work done by Jan von Vistisen. The price is USD 100 per cigar and you can buy it at the Davidoff Flagship stores in Denmark and Switzerland plus online.