Having just returned last night from the Montecristo Cigar Club meeting at Murdocks in Cocoa Village Florida, I awoke after a nice slumbering rest to a warm sunny Florida morning. I decided it was the perfect morning to sit on my outside patio with a cup of Joe and a nice stick to sample.
Today I chose the Palomino Coleccion La Reina maduro Torpedo from sampler pack I received last night at the gathering. Now before I get into this review let me just say that Silvio Palomino Cigars are one of the best buys for a quality stick anywhere. The company sells their stogies factory direct, eliminating all the middle men in the process. They pass that saving direct to the customer. This particular stick is about 3 bucks by the box, and worth every cent.
The Coleccion La Reina (pronounced “La Ray’na”) is constructed from Ligero Fuerte Crilollo 98 and Ligero Suave Criollo 98 tobacco fillers.It has a Brazilian maduro wrapper that is a little toothy which shows by the small white dots on the snow white ash. The cap is evenly applied. The wrapper was a little rough with a touch of veins.
As I sliced the cap and drew a few pre-light draws there was a bit of spice and perfect draw. I fired it up and settled down to read my friend’s, Christopher Robins Adams, new book Spanish Cedar. I lent me the pre-release to review and it is a most enjoyable read; poems about cigars and the cigar lifestyle form years of traveling and smoking. I will have more on this in another article.
As read Christopher’s poems and puffed on the La Reina, I was in a perfect moment of solitude. It was Independence day here in the US and I was enjoying one of my freedoms.
The La Reina started off mellow with a light spice throughout. There was a note of coffee at times and even a hint of chocolate sweetness. The changes were minimal, very subtle. It had a nice steady flavor just like the burn. The ash was snow white and held on for well over an inch and half. Even after dropping the initial ash, the next grew a god inch or more each time. There was no bite in the retro-hale. The smoke coated my palate and it paired well with my mid morning coffee.
This is a great buy and a fantastic stick that could well command more than the 3 dollars you can get them for. Definitely an every day smoke. I am looking forward to the rest of the sampler now.
Thanks Silvio and Mitch.