Aladino Maduro Corona by JRE Tobacco Co.

At the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show, JRE Tobacco Co, showcased a fifth size under its Aladino Maduro line with a 5 x 44 Corona-sized offering. It was a little over a year ago when JRE Tobacco introduced its Aladino Maduro – the second blend under its Aladino brand. The Aladino Maduro would be a different offering in that it would introduce some of the first box-pressed offerings by the company. Since the formation of JRE Tobacco in 2016, Aladino has proven to be JRE Tobacco’s most popular and acclaimed brand, and the maduro offering provided a key expansion to the brand. Today, we take a closer deep dive into the Aladino Maduro Corona.

The Aladino name is something traced back to the 1970s. There was a historic movie theater in Danlí, Honduras known as El Cine Aladino. This theater was operated by Christian and Justo Eiroa’s grandfather. Today, Christian owns the Aladino factory, which is in the theater’s former location. Aladino is also the name that company patriarch Julio R. Eiroa chose to name one of his brands. When Aladino was released, this was a brand positioned as delivering a classic, “old-fashioned” cigar experience reminiscent of those during the “golden age” between 1947 and 1961.

While the Aladino Maduro Corona was officially launched at the 2019 IPCPR Trade Show, the cigar itself was soft-launched to select retailers earlier in the year. This is a strategy JRE Tobacco has employed with many of its releases in the past.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Aladino Maduro Corona and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

For the Aladino Maduro, the Eiroas have decided to source a San Andres maduro wrapper from Mexico. JRE Tobacco Company’s other San Andres wrapped blend is the Rancho Luna Maduro. In addition, the blend features authentic corojo grown on the Eiroa family tobacco farms in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras.

Wrapper: San Andres Maduro
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Country of Origin: Honduras
Factory: Las Lomas

Vitolas Available

With the exception of the Elegante (Lancero), all of the offerings under the Aladino Maduro line are box-pressed. The Corona size is presented in 20-count boxes.

Corona: 44 x 5
Elegante: 38 x 7
Cazador: 46 x 6
Robusto: 50 x 5
Toro: 60 x 5

Packaging of the Aladino Maduro Corona

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper of the Aladino Maduro Corona had a dark coffee bean look to it. Upon closer examination, some subtle mottling could be seen on the surface, There was a very light coating of oil on the surface. The wrapper itself was devoid of any significant visible veins and visible wrapper seams. The texture of the wrapper still had a characteristic ruggedness associated with San Andres Maduro. The box-press was also on the sharper side.

The Aladino Maduro uses the same band found on the original Aladino Corojo line. The front and center of the band feature a brown circular field with silver trim. On that field is a large silver “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.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

After commencing the cigar experience of the Aladino Maduro Corona with a straight cut, it was time to proceed with the pre-light ritual. The dry draw delivered a mix of coffee, earth, and a slight cedar note. On the surface, this might seem like a very simple pre-light flavor profile, but I found it to be quite flavorful – resulting in an excellent pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to light up the Aladino Maduro Corona and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Aladino Maduro Corona started off with a combination of coffee, earth, classic wood, and cedar notes. Early on the cocoa notes moved into the forefront. This was joined by some maduro sweetness – something that I consider a fusion of natural tobacco and dried fruit notes. The earth, wood, and cedar settled into the background and was joined by some subtle black pepper notes. As the Aladino Maduro Corona moved through the first third, the coffee notes morphed into a semi-sweet cocoa note. Meanwhile, there was an additional layer of black pepper present on the retro-hale.

During the second third, the maduro sweetness soon emerged as the primary note. From time to time, the cocoa notes crept into the forefront as well. The pepper, wood, and earth notes remained present in the background throughout this page of the smoke.

The last third saw the maduro sweetness remained grounded in the forefront. The cocoa, earth, wood, and cedar notes were in the background. There was a slight increase in the cedar and pepper notes. This is how the experience of the Aladino Maduro Corona came to a conclusion. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

The burn of the Aladino Maduro Corona performed excellently. This was a cigar that maintained a straight burn path as well as a straight burn line. The resulting ash was silver-gray in color. This was an ash that was skewed toward the firmer side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal.

Burn of the Aladino Maduro Corona

Draw

The draw to the Aladino Maduro Corona performed extremely well. It didn’t have the openness of a draw that many box-pressed cigars have. As a result, it produced the right amount of resistance making this a near-ideal draw.

Strength and Body

The Aladino Maduro Corona statted out as a medium strength, medium-bodied smoke. There wasn’t much variance in the intensity levels throughout the smoking experience and as a result, remained in the medium-strength, medium-bodied range from start to finish. Along the way, the strength and body balanced each other nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

When it comes to the Aladino Maduro line, the new Corona addition currently is the “belle of the ball.”.From an overall cigar experience standpoint, I found the Corona to be the best size of this blend that is currently on the market. Even though this was a smaller smoke, I found the $6.50 price tag to be very reasonable – and this cigar delivered a smoke as good as any ultra-premium maduro on the market. This is a cigar I would recommend to a more experienced cigar enthusiast, but it’s a nice one for a novice looking for something in the medium range. As for myself, it’s not only a cigar I would smoke, but it’s one worthy of a box purchase.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cocoa, Coffee, “Maduro Sweetness,” Earth, Cedar, Wood, Black Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Excellent