Trinidad Reyes Cigar - 1 Single

Received a pack of these as a birthday present very recently and I must say, out of all the cigars of its size and from its region I have experienced, this stick is by far the best. Started of with plenty of cream and a tinge of orange zest (just a tinge!) and then the cream got so overpowering I felt as if I was swishing milk around in my mouth (which was much more enjoyable than it sounds) Towards the last third I experienced a lot of wood and leather which was just what was needed after all the cream at the start. Finished the first of the pack with such enjoyment that I am unsure if they will last to the end of the month! Brilliant service from the Cgars team, as always!

Absolutely wonderful cigar! Vanilla, nutty flavour. A lovely long, mild smoke with fantastic looking ash and a great slow burn. A really delightful smoke enjoyed in the park on a lovely day. I shall be buying more of these great cigars.

Reviewed by Rob Sluss (June 2004) I wanted to extend my utmost thanks for the pleasurable experience I had when purchasing some of the new Trinidads from your establishment. The service was friendly and fast. In return, I am submitting the review of the first one I smoked, a Reyes: After a tip from a good friend, I purchased a few boxes of the new Trinidads in various sizes. I really enjoy PC and TPC sized smokes, so I drew out a Reyes first (4 3/8" x 40). It was Christmas day 2003, and my lovely wife and I just returned from a good friends house where we had a gut busting dinner. We walked around the neighborhood to work off some of the food and spirits once we arrived at the house, and then we settled in. I retired to the lanai, where it was very comfortable, around 75 degrees with no humidity. I glued my ass to the lounge chair with a bomber snifter of Jamaican Rum and went to work. The Reyes, upon pre-light inspection was a work of art for a TPC. Flawless roll, deep semisweet chocolate wrapper color that was as soft as well worn leather, no large veining and not hard spots. I clipped with a guillotine cutter and the pre-light draw was perfect without plugs. The aroma of the pre-lit cigar was deep with and earthy spice, and heavy on sweet tobacco. The light took place without a hitch, typical pre-draw roast and several medium draws to prevent a head rush. The first few puffs were insane, very strong but not in a bad way. Like drinking stout for the first time, your kinda excited, kinda scared. It quickly leveled out and the definitive spice "pepper" note turned to crisp heat, very similar to what you experience when you eat wasabi. There was no lingering heat or burnt feeling on the tongue, just a long lasting semi-sweet tobacco flavor with faint wisps of macaroons and coffee. This TPC help on longer than the norm, it was like Willy Wonka rolled it. Midway through this lil' cigar poured on flavors of cafe cream with the consistency of maple syrup, the flavor lasted far after the smoke was gone. The ash was dense, medium gray and help on like a cliff hanger. It never went out even with 3-5 minute pauses in puffing. I nubbed it, or course, and my fingers still look like hell. But, the last 1/3rd of this beauty really poured it on. A slight sugary smell started to present itself after each puff, as if the natural sugars in the tobacco condensed into the last of the cigar, and reminded me of the smell in a candy makers kitchen. My tongue went numb, the Rum kicked in, and to this day my wife really did not know what the heck I was saying when I went to bed that night. In conclusion, these are a must have. The Reyes are ready to smoke now, but will only age well over a long rest. These are the perfect aging cigar, in my mind. I have not had a chance to smoke the Colonials or the Robusto Extras yet, but will report on them soon. The Fundadores are also being produced with the new bands and packaging, but I don't know if they are the old blend, or this "possibly new" blend. Will have to get some and do a comparison smoke-a-thon for the two. A bit wordy. Nice description of the environment. Excellent description of appearance and construction characteristics. Willy Wonka? Maple Syrup? No, Semi-sweet and spicy flavors Yes Score: 8/10 Judged by Chuck Ultimately the key to a great review for me is how willing am I to buy the smoke afterwards and this review did it for me, more so for curiosity than anything else. I would have appreciated some comparisons of this cigar to other benchmark smokes just to serve as a standard of comparison but at any rate, this was nothing less than a wonderful review that covered all of the aspects of this cigar in a captivating way Score: 9/10 Judged by Lamar Good description of setting. The cigars construction, taste and flavour are explained brilliantly. The phrase ' like Willy Wonka rolled it' is genius. Clear and to the point - excellent review. Score: 9 ½ / 10 Judged by Jamie Johnston An excellent review. The writer enticed all of my senses; sight, feel & taste. The correct use of metaphor and analogy only added to and did not distract from his prose. I finished the review with a definite desire to smoke this cigar. Well done. Score: 8/10 Judged by Elliot Blum OVERALL SCORE: 34.5/40

Reviewed by Tim Mezick (June 2004) After arriving at the ski resort only to find the conditions quite poor we still decided to put on or boots and headed over to the lift, crunch, crunch, crunch as we made our way over the ice covered snow. As we got on the lift chair I had remembered I stashed a Trinidad Reyes that my brother had given me earlier into my jacket pocket, being concerned that it may get crushed I took it and was about to put it into my Fannie pack when the lift came to a complete halt. As I sat 50 feet or so in the air with my feet dangling, I decided that fearing that the cigar in my hand may not survive the day in my pack I may as well under the circumstances enjoy it now. Knowing this cigar was a recent release I was going to let it age and didn't expect much from it at this time. I noticed the cigar while of good construction was not as smooth and vein free as other Trinidad's I have had, this had a rougher look to it, however it seemed well rolled none the less. The pre light draw was good and as I lit the cigar I immediately smelled and tasted woodiness with a ever so slight herbal or grassy flavor. This as I sat legs dangling still motionless was all I got from this cigar for the first third. Thinking to myself what a waste of a day and also how this cigar was just too young to be smoked, the cigar became fuller richer with a very strong wood and earthy flavor, it was at the half way point starting to turn into a power house loosing its sweetness. Towards the last third this cigar I started to feel that the chair was again moving; however it was not the chair, this seemingly small innocent looking cigar was making me quite dizzy. I realized this unlike other Trinidad's was not a light smoke to be had in the morning. I could barely finish this one off as the lift did start to move again my happiness to start skiing turning to fear of being able to make it down the hill. I believe this cigar has great ageing potential; it is reminiscent of the old style Cuban cigars being very full flavored and with tremendous strength. I would recommend picking these up and laying them down for awhile, but be forewarned not to smoke these for breakfast. Fuller & Richer strong wood and earth flavors, Yes Reminiscent of Old Style Cuban Flavors, Yes Nice description of setting. I agree with the review! Score 9/10 Judged by Chuck I thoroughly understood the power and finesse of this wonderful cigar after reading this review. A wonderful appeal to all of my senses in that after reading it I could all but see the cigar in my hand having both heard and felt the crunch of the snow. When a review takes me on a virtual smoke, it has done its job. Score 10/10 Judged by Lamar Not too keen on this tasting - bit too much of a story at the start and a bit of a poor ending. Although, good description of the cigars strength. Interesting place to smoke a cigar! Score: 6/10 Judged by Jamie Johnston Reviewing a cigar, especially one coming from the Trinidad line deserves a little more respect than an off the cuff evaluation on a ski-lift. Although the writer gives his opinion of the cigar I was too busy wondering if he was going to blow chunks before or after he gets off the lift. I was also left with the following question. How can you enjoy any cigar while on the slopes? Après-ski in the lodge, that I can understand. Score: 3/10 Judged by Elliot Blum OVERALL SCORE: 28/40

Reviewed by Simon Elliott (June 2004) It was to be the perfect relaxing Sunday morning. The kids were playing together unusually quietly and my wife busied herself in the kitchen with the roast. I sat in my study with a copy of Cigar Aficionado and a Frank Sinatra CD cued in the player, readying myself for my Sunday cigar. As I smoke few cigars, no more than one or two a week, it is always an event to be savoured. A look in the humidor and a decision had to be made, would it be the Cedros No.3, or maybe an El Rey Lunch Club, Perhaps a Non Plus. The most recent edition to my humidor caught my eye, the faultless construction, beautiful pale veiny wrapper topped with the twist on the cap and the three T's on the yellow and gold band proved irresistible. Back in the Kitchen, the espresso machine was warming up, having ground the beans and filled the strainer I was ready to go. I was on my way back to the study cigar punch and lighter in hand when there was a loud pop followed by a hissing and a screech behind me. The espresso machine had blown its seal and there was water, coffee and steam everywhere. After a few choice words and a clean-up I settled for a walk with the dog and a Davidoff Ambassadrice as the mood for the three T's was spoiled. During the afternoon I kept contemplating the Trinidad, a lot of good things have been said, and I longed to find out for myself if it was all true. My choice, the smaller of the three new vitolas, the Reyes, is 4 3/8" long with a gauge of 40 and retails for £6.50 in singles. The opportunity did not arise again until the evening, when back in the study I picked up where I left off. The first thing you notice about this cigar is the quality of the wrapper and overall fine construction, I love the twist on the cap, the only other cigar I have with this is the Cohiba Lancero. Before lighting it has a delicious aroma which hints of the spiciness to come once lit. Frank was singing, telling me how I made him feel so young, while I punched the cap out and set this piece of artwork alight, and took that all important first draw. Well let me start by saying, that as this is a young cigar I did not expect the smoothness that it gave, with a lovely easy draw and full body it had me hooked right from the beginning. The room was filled with a delightful aroma and plenty of smoke I love spicy cigars in general, and this one did not disappoint, the smoothness and the rich spicy flavour remained very consistent, throughout the smoke, with a slight nuttiness appearing just after the halfway mark. The burn was a little less consistent than I would of liked going out about after about a third had burned and it rested in the ashtray for a minute. I knocked off the dark ash and tried again. It went out again twice, but this did not spoil the enjoyment of this fine cigar that went so well with the twelve year old Dalmore Malt that I was drinking. Despite it's smoothness, it is quite a strong cigar, that is full of complex flavours, I cannot wait to see how well these age, judging by what I've experienced so far, they should be rather good. This cigar will be added to the list of permanent humidor residents, I would have to give it a 8 1/2 out of 10. I can't wait to try the Coloniales, when the right opportunity presents itself. Well written with initial good set up of environment, then disaster and burn issues. Hit the nail on the head with the nuttiness and rich spicy flavors. I might not have tried this cigar from reading this review due to construction problems. Score 7.5/10 Judged by Chuck A fabulous review that perfectly described the cigar even as it also set the mood in which it was enjoyed. This review was so well written that it made me wish that I could pull up a chair and enjoy a stick with you. Thanks for doing such a great job of describing a cigar with so much potential. Score 10/10 Judged by Lamar Even though it takes a while to get into this review I really enjoyed it. Nice description of the cigars cap and construction. Good description of the aromas produced. Compared to the length of the review, the actual tasting section is quite small. Score: 8/10 Judged by Jamie Johnston While the events that occur to each of us everyday are interesting and should be shared, four paragraphs of color are a little too much for a cigar review. However, when the author finally gets into reviewing the cigar, he does a fairly decent job. His smoking description is adequate but does not really encourage me to try this cigar. Score: 5/10 Judged by Elliot Blum OVERALL SCORE: 30.5/40