JRE Tobacco Company Aladino Cigar Review – It’s Familia

JRE Tobacco for those that may not be familiar with the name is company formed by Julio R. and Justo M. Eiroa. Ok,  I may have your attention here as the Eiroa should have caught your eye. Julio and Justo are the father and brother respectively, of Christian Eiroa, yes the man who helped make Camacho Cigars a cigar household name and of course the owner of CLE cigars. So you see, it’s familia. In fact, it was at the 2015 IPCPR that CLE Cigars announced the Aladino. The cigar became widely available in 2016.

The Aladino Cigar is described by JRE Tobacco as a 100% Authentic Corojo cigar made with tobacco grown by the Eiroa family in the Jamastran Valley in Honduras. Julio set his mind on creating a old fashioned look and taste that would take the cigar enthusiast back to the Golden Era of Cuban cigars which he describes as 1947 to 1961.

To start that process, the company controls the complete process from planting, cultivating, processing, rolling, packing and distributing  their product. The blend is simply described as:

• Wrapper – Authentic Corojo (Honduras)
• Binder – Authentic Corojo (Honduras)
• Filler – Authentic Corojo (Honduras)

If you are particular about vitolas, JRE Tobacco has checked all the boxes with the availability of 12 different Aladino vitolas. They are packaged in 20-count boxes. The Aladino Patton is packaged in a coffin, with 10 coffins per box.

• Petit Corona – 4 x 40
• Rothschild – 4.5 x 48
• Santi – 5.5 x 32
• Corona – 5 x 44
• Robusto – 5 x 50
• Palmas – 6 x 43
• Cazador – 6 x 46
• Toro – 6 x 50
• Gordo – 6.5 x 60
• Elegante – 7 x 38
• Churchill – 7 x 48
• Patton – 9 x 48

Pricing ranges around $7.00 to $11.00 MSRP on many of the popular online sites but you have to hunt for the particular vitola as the sites don’t carry all them. I was gifted an Aladino Robusto by my friend Peter Hernandez which will be the sample I am reviewing today.

Pre-Light Examination

The first glance of the Aladino Cigar from JRE Tobacco is a rugged, bumpy, and veiny cigar that has a milk-chocolate brown wrapper with a slight sheen and finished with an expertly applied triple cap. Don’t get me wrong here, I have no issue with a rugged looking cigar if it burns well and offers enticing flavors and aroma – which you will read and see is exactly what the Aladino offered.

The Aladino cigar is adorned with a single band using primarily a silver and dark brown motif for the logo and then a yellow strip at the bottom that has “Julio R. Eiroa” printed in a red on it.

I ran the Aladino across the nose and did not pick up much aroma off the barrel but the foot enticed the nasals with rich notes of fruit and nut. I thought to myself how wonderful this early Saturday morning was going to be with the Aladino to start it off.

Once I sliced the cap, the cold draw delivered a delectable combination of salty butter and pepper notes through a perfect restriction. Yep, you guessed it, I just leaned back and rolled the Aladino around and savored the pre-light. Of course the destiny of every cigar, after all the hands that work the fields, processing, and rolling it, is to turn it into ash. So ash it shall be!

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Cigar Review Notes

• Pow! Whack! Boom! I am hit with a healthy dose of pepper to start
• Ok, that cleared the morning nose !!
• Cinnamon tingles and lingers on the tongue
• Subtle fruit adds to the profile along with rich cedar notes
• The ash forming is light grey and rests on a straight and medium thick char line
• Pepper is still cleansing the nasal well beyond an inch of burn
• Nice crisp morning here on the Stogie Press deck with puffy clouds dotting a blue sky as the birds are just waking up
• Solid medium strength to start – of course I have not eaten anything yet; oh oh!
• The ash is perfect and has a solid form
• Sweet spicy aroma starts to waft off the foot
• Citrus enters as it moves to the midway point
• Cinnamon fades and is only lightly represented on the palate
• Some sea salt enters as the aroma shifts to a touch of Cubanesque floral
• Strength moves to more medium full – remember empty morning stomach!
• Sweetness builds in the end of second third
• Ash finally fell entering the last third
• Fairly flat and centered burn cone
• Cedar picks back up along with a cherry note laced with a light spice
• Total Smoking Time was one hour and fifteen minutes

Overall, the Aladino Cigar from JRE Tobacco hit the mark in my assessment that Julio set. I can’t say I ever smoked a Cuban cigar from the Golden Era but I have had my share of Cubans while traveling in Europe and this ranks right up there. The notes transitioned perfectly and were well-balanced throughout the journey. You don’t get a better burn than what the Aladino offered either, I mean just look at that ash! Great work on this cigar Julio and Justo. Like I said, it’s Familia!