No. 6 Cigar of the Year 2018 – Aladino Corojo Reserva

Sour: Cigar Dojo

Following the sale of the Camacho brand (and associated assets) to Oettinger Davidoff Group in 2008, famed cigarmaker Julio R. Eiroa took a brief sabbatical from the world of premium cigars. What wasn’t included in the acquisition was Julio’s tobacco fields—which were put to good use four years later, with the introduction of the CLE Cigars brand (owned by Christian Eiroa, one of Julio’s sons). After three more years being content with manning his JRE Tobacco Farm, Julio partnered with Christian’s older brother, Justo, to introduce his self-titled JRE Tobacco Company, debuting a suite of three cigar brands in 2015.

Leading the pack was a premium Honduran puro blend known as Aladino, a cigar that was quick to gain a cult following, with fans often comparing the cigars to the old-school profiles of Cuba’s heyday. Being the clear-cut favorite from JRE (and earning its fair share of critical acclaim), it wasn’t long before the company began expanding on the blend, introducing a maduro variant and, at the 2018 IPCPR trade show, the amped-up Aladino Corojo Reserva.

Like the cigar’s predecessor, the Corojo Reserva is a Honduran Corojo puro, making use of the family’s famed Corojo tobacco exclusively throughout the wrapper, binder, and filler. What’s changed is the intensity—altering primings to showcase a high-octane experience. Aladino Corojo Reserva is noticeably darker than the standard Aladino cigar, bringing a darker flavor profile as well; including toasty flavors of charred oak, black pepper, dark-roasted nuts, earth, black coffee, and cinnamon. This is a familiar experience for fans of the original Aladino, while showing enough transformation to stand on its own.

Aladino Corojo Reserva Breakdown