Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA Edition

Recently, My Father Cigars released a special limited edition cigar of its Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial series for TAA retailers. Each year, the Tobacconist Association of America (TAA) makes available to its member retailers an exclusive cigar from a leading manufacturer (this is not a large volume of retailers).  The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA Edition was the release that was done by My Father Cigars.  It was made in a special box-press torpedo as a part of the Reserva Especial line.  Overall, a very good cigar and the box-press torpedo is one that really works well for this line.

The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial was a cigar that was released in 2010.  In fact, we had this as our #14 cigar for 2010.  The TAA Edition represents the first time that this blend was made in a box-press.   I’ve been told the blend was “tweaked” from the original Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial blend.   Let’s take a closer look at this cigar.

Blend Profile

While the blend was been tweaked, the origins of the tobaccos still remain true to the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line.

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

Vitolas Available

The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA Edition is made in a 6 1/8 x 52 box-press torpedo.  This is the same shape as the My Father Le Bijou 1922 box-press torpedo that was introduced in 2011 (that also had a tweaked blend).   The cigar is sold in boxes of 20, and I’ve heard unofficial numbers of around 650 boxes made.   We have included the vitolas that mke up the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line for completeness.

Box Press Torpedo (TAA): 6 1/8 x 52

Core Line Vitolas (Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial)
Belicoso: 5 1/2 x 52
Petit Robusto: 4 1/2 x 50
Robusto: 5 1/4 x 52
Super Gordo: 5 3/4 x 66
Toro: 6.0 x 54
Toro Gordo: 6.0 x 60

Appearance

The wrapper of the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA Edition has the classic espresso colored Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper.  The wrapper itself is not very oily, but overall it is smooth – especially for a box-press torpedo.   There is a blue ribbon on the footer (similar to the Le Bijou box-press that had an orange ribbon).   The actual band is the one common to the whole Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line.  It says Jaime Garcia in pale gold font with Reserva Especial in blue script.  On the back of the band (going toward the right from the front) is the name “My Father Cigars”.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

For my Jaime Garcia TAA Edition, I clipped the torpedo tip with a straight cutter and immediately commenced with the pre-light draw.   The dry draw notes were classic Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial – namely espresso syrup.   While it wasn’t a complex pre-light draw, it still was a satisfactory one.  At this point, it was time to fire up my Jaime Garcia TAA and see what else would be in store.

Flavor Profile

For the most part, the flavor profile to the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA Edition evolved quickly and then held for the remainder of the smoke.   The start of the Jaime Garcia TAA Edition kicked off with a healthy dose of what I call the “Garcia pepper blast”.   The pepper diminished quickly, but did not completely dissipate.   It would soon be joined by notes of wood.   In the early stages, the wood transitioned to more of a classic roasted coffee flavor.  The roasted coffee notes were in the forefront with the wood and pepper in a secondary role.  As the cigar expierence progressed into the first third, some black cherry notes emerged – providing some sweetness on the flavor palette.

For most of the first half, the black cherry and roasted coffee notes pretty much held in the forefront with the pepper spice and wood in the background.  As the Jaime Garcia TAA moved into the second half, there was definitely an increase in the spice.   The spice moves into the forefront of the second half.   The finish is spicy and not harsh.   The resulting nub was a soft to the touch, but a little warm in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The burn of the Jaime Garcia TAA did require several touch-ups.   For the most part, the touch-ups kept the burn straight, but it did require frequent touch-ups with the lighter.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

If you have read many of my other assessments, you might know I am not the biggest torpedo fan.  Much of this feeling stems from the draw as usually I don’t get a good one.  With the case of the Jaime Garcia TAA, the draw was excellent.  This is definitely one of the better torpedo draws I’ve had in the past 12 months.

Strength and Body

I’ve seen the strength vary when it comes to the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line.  In general, I’ve found the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line to be full strength.  The 66 ring gauge Super Toro was the strongest of the vitolas (it was one of the most powerful smokes I had in 2011). The Jaime Garcia TAA vitola didn’t quite make it to full strength in my book.   I assessed this one to be medium to full in strength.   I can only infer that the blend “tweaking” made some sort of a difference.

As for the body, the flavors are robust and have depth.  The Jaime Garcia TAA keeps true to its full-bodied flavors in the line.    The balance between strength and body is as good as I’ve seen in the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial line – definitely the components complement each other.

Final Thoughts

The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial TAA does very well for this line.  I particularly think the box-press torpedo and blend tweaking work well.  The one knock I’ve had on this blend is that it falls short in complexity and flavor transitions once the cigar exits the early stages.  Like the rest of the line, I recommend this to experienced cigar enthusiasts as this is fuller in strength and body.  As for myslf, I’d want to get some more of these before the supplies are exhausted.

Summary

Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 88

Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Elite Cigar Cafe in Addison, Texas.