Aladino is one of three brands of cigars coming from JRE Tobacco Company. JRE Tobacco Company is an operation that was founded by Julio R. Eiroa and his son Justo M. Eiroa. Both Julio and Justo are the father and brother of Christian Eiroa, who is best known for running Camacho Cigars before founding CLE Cigar Company. JRE Tobacco Company is a fully vertically integrated operation as it grows tobacco at the Eiroa family farms, produces its cigars at Julio Eiroa’s Las Lomas factory, and handles its own distribution. The Eiroa family is synonymous with Authentic Corojo tobacco and with the Aladino, the company delivers a 100% Authentic Corojo cigar that is positioned to deliver a very “old fashioned” cigar experience. The Aladino is also meant to be a cigar that represents the classic cigars from Cuba in the period of 1947 through 1961. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Aladino in the Elegante (lancero) cigar. Very simply, this cigar can be considered nothing short of a masterpiece.

Just prior to the 2015 IPCPR Trade Show, it was CLE Cigar Company that first announced the Aladino along with the Rancho Luna and Tatascan brands. The common denominator to the three brands were that were all projects spearheaded by Julio Eiroa. Following the trade show, CLE would do a soft-launch for the brands. Earlier this year, it was announced that all new company called JRE Tobacco Company would now be handling distribution. CLE Cigar Company owner Christian Eiroa explained the reasoning for this:

This decision was made to protect my father’s specific vision to present to you and your customers traditional Cuban blends. He has not spared one expense and has personally taken care of every single detail of his tobacco and his blends. I sincerely hope you welcome them back into your stores with the same warmth you have shown me these past four years.

Following this announcement, the Aladino, Rancho Luna, and Tatascan brands underwent some changes in terms of blends and packaging. While the packaging remained the same with Aladino, the blend was slightly changed to incorporate a higher priming wrapper and three new sizes were introduced.

Aladino’s name can be traced back to the 1970s. There was a historic movie theater in Danli, Honduras known as El Cine Aladino. This theater was operated by Christian and Justo Eiroa’s grandfather. Today Aladino is also the name of a factory owned by Christian Eiroa that is in the same location as the movie theater. It is also the name that Julio Eiroa chose to name one of his brands..

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Aladino Elegante (lancero) and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

As mentioned, the Aladino consists of 100% Authentic Corojo tobacco grown in Honduras at the Eiroa Family Farms.

Wrapper: Authentic Corojo (Honduras)
Binder:  Authentic Corojo (Honduras)
Filler: Authentic Corojo (Honduras)
Country of Origin: Honduras (Las Lomas)

The Eiroas differentiate Authentic Corojo from other Corojo seeds. It was this seed that was grown by Julio Eiroa that became a game-changer and would eventually lead to the huge success Camacho would see after the cigar boom.

Vitolas Available

There are twelve sizes of the Aladino. Nine of these sizes have under a 50 ring gauge.

Santi: 5 1/2 x 32
Elegante: 7 x 38
Petit Corona: 4 x 40
Palmas: 6 x 43
Corona: 5 x 44
Cazador: 6 x 46
Rothschild: 4 1/2 x 48
Churchill: 7 x 48
Robusto: 5 x 50
Patton: 9 x 48
Toro: 6 x 50
Gordo: 6 1/2 x 60

All are packaged in 20 count boxes. The Palmas, Rothschild, and Churchill are also available in 3 count packs. The Petit Corona is available in four count packs. The Santi is available in a 50 count single pack while the Patton is packaged in a coffin, with 10 coffins per box.

Appearance

The Authentic Corojo wrapper of the Aladino Elegante has a medium brown color. Depending on how the light shines on it, it may give off a rosado tint. I found the Elegante to be nearly void of any oils on the surface. In addition, the Elegante’s wrapper had a smooth surface with only some thin visible veins and minimally visible wrapper seams.

There is one band on the Aladino.The front and center of the band features a brown circular field with silver trim. On that field is a large silver colored “A” with the text “ALADINO” arranged in a curved fashion above it. To the left of the circle is the text “1947” while to right is the text “1961” – both in silver font sitting on a background consisting of a combination of brown and maroon. Sitting on that same row to the far right side is the text (also in silver font). “HECHO A MANO”. The lower portion of the band almost looks like a pseudo-secondary band. It is yellow in color with silver trim. The text “JULIO R. EIROA” appears in maroon font on that yellow background.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Aladino Elegante, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The cold draw of the cigar delivered a mix of natural tobacco and some baker’s spice. Overall I found the pre-light draw of this cigar to be excellent. At this point I was ready to light up the Aladino Elegante and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Aladino Elegante delivered notes of natural tobacco, baker’s spice, earth, and white pepper. Early on, the natural tobacco sweetness moved to the forefront and had components of fruit and caramel mixed in. Meanwhile the baker’s spice, earth, and pepper became background notes. The retro-hale delivered additional (but not overpowering notes) of white and black pepper.

During the first half of the smoking experience, the natural tobacco notes remained in the forefront. At times the natural tobacco continued to demonstrate some caramel and fruit components; but as the cigar approached the midway point, these components diminished. The baker’s spice remained in the background, but there wasn’t much in the way of pepper notes.

By the midway point of the Aladino Elegante, the natural tobacco sweetness and earth notes were now on par. The sweetness diminished some more and by the end of the second third, the earth notes emerged as the primary note. At the same time, some spices re-emerged, but now it was more of a black pepper varietal. The diminishing of the sweetness was not a negative and it contributed to creating more nuances in the flavor profile.

There were no further flavor transitions in the final third. The earth notes were primary and the natural tobacco sweetness and pepper was secondary. This was the way the flavor profile came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The burn performed very well on the Aladino Elegante. In fact, it performed at the highest level earning the “Exceptional” ranking. The burn path was straight from start to finish – and the burn line was razor sharp. The resulting ash was tight and firm with a near white color. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

The draw of the Aladino Elegante also performed quite well. It was not too loose, nor was it too tight. This made the Aladino Elegante a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

Strength-wise I found the Aladino Elegante to be on the low end of medium. As the cigar experienced progressed, there was a minor increase in strength, but even but the end, I still found this cigar to remain in the medium range of the spectrum. The body also started out medium and increased slightly along the way.

While both the strength and body of the Aladino Elegante were in the “medium” range, I gave a slight edge to the body throughout the smoking experience.

Final Thoughts

Overall the Aladino Elegante is a home run. This is one of the cigars that I describe as “firing on all cylinders”. This cigar has great flavor, plenty of complexity, and excellent construction. While it definitely has plenty of “old school” intangibles, this is also a cigar that can appeal to the modern cigar enthusiast. The use of the higher priming wrapper did give this cigar a little more strength and body than when it first came out – and it seemed to hit a very nice sweet spot. Finally, as someone who doesn’t reach for a lancero, I found the 7 x 38 size worked perfect with this blend. This is a cigar I’d recommend to the novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again, buy a box, and fight Chuck Norris for.

Summary

Burn: Exceptional
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.5-Fight Chuck Norris for Them
Score: 95

References

News: JRE Tobacco Showcases Aladino at 2016 IPCPR Trade Show
Price: $8.00
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 185
Stogie Feed: n/a
Brand Reference: JRE Tobacco Co

* JRE Tobacco Company is a sponsor of Cigar Coop and Stogie Geeks