I am a big fan of SLR cigars, the Double Corona is one of may all time favourite sticks but it takes a while to smoke, so I got some Regios to see if they give me a little of the SLR taste when I dont have so much time.
Still got some organisation to do here, but its getting there.
Just a quick update on my previous review, I am happy to report that the second cigar I smoked had no draw issues. The draw was perfect and enhanced the experience, I would now say that for construction and draw it gets a 9, instead of an 8.
I am not going to revise the overall score until I have had one further cigar, it might be a while before I have number 3 but if it is as good as this one my final rating may improve from 8.5 to 9
In the meantime they are well worth putting in your humidor
I picked this up at my local merchant, they have a cabinet of 50 in their humidor, and had reduced them so I thought I would give one a try. This is an absolutely massive stick its 7.6″ with a ring gauge of 49 and looks very impressive. I anticipated that this cigar would take at least two to two and a half hours to smoke, so I had to wait for a suitable time to smoke this, apparently it was the favourite brand of Frank Sinatra, so lets see what’s its like.
Appearance 9.0/10
This is a very good looking cigar, its length immediately grabs your attention, and its a lovely medium brown. The wrapper had very fine veins, and my cigar had a couple of small spots towards the top of the cigar. The band is a very classy looking red and gold which nicely printed.
Construction & Draw 8.0/10
The construction of this cigar was pretty good, there were no soft spots but there was a slightly tight spot about and inch from the end, so I was a little concerned that this might affect the draw. This turned out to be the case, the first inch and a half of this cigar had a tight draw, not impossible to smoke, but it was more effort than you should expect, and made it tricky to keep lit to begin with. Luckily after the “tight spot” the draw opened up and from there on the cigar had a great draw. Cap construction was excellent, and I got a really clean cut of the cap.
Flavour 8.0/10
Smooth and sophisticated is a good way to describe this cigars flavour profile (I can see why Frank Sinatra was a fan, as you could say its the cigar equivalent of his music).
The initial flavour was of tobacco with a very slight spice to it, once I had got past the tight draw the flavours gradually opened up, and I could detect hints of cocoa and coffee. After about half way there was a slight earthy tone, and the cocoa gave way to a nice vanilla note, the flavour profile stayed this way until the end of the stick. What is worth noting is that even when I was really close the the end, the flavour did not get harsh or bitter (jut a little extra toastiness), it was silky smooth to the nub, which I think shows the quality of the cigar.
Strength wise I would say this started of light-medium, and by about half was medium strength.
Value 8.5/10
I believe that these normally retail at around 25 GBP, I managed to pick mine up for just under 20 GBP, but I have based my value score on the normal retail price. There is no denying that at 25 GBP this is not a cheap cigar, but I think it offers quite a bit for your money, it is after all a double corona, and its only a few pounds more than most good Cuban Churchills. This coupled with the sophisticated profile make this well worth the money in my opinion.
Summary 8.5/10
This is a very big cigar, and you need to put at least two and a half hours aside in order to really enjoy it. Although the construction and appearance was excellent, the initially tight draw drops the score, luckily the draw got better, I am hoping that the draw on the others I have will be better, if so I may revise my score at a later date.
This is not a cigar that will grab your palette and take you on a roller coaster ride, its flavour profile is sedate and refined, and that’s a pretty good way to describe this cigar. So the big question is would I buy more, well as I have already hinted, I have already purchased two more to lay down in my humidor and see how they mature, I expect they will just get better and better with age.
UK Cigarnewbie 