Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 by C.L.E. Cigar Company

In 2019 C.L.E. Cigar Company released two new offerings under its Eiroa brand, the Eiroa Dark and the Eiroa Jamastran. With the Eiroa Jamastran, the company announced that one of the sizes – its iconic 11/18 vitola – would be made an exclusive cigar to the 2019 Exclusive Series for the Tobacconist Association of America (TAA). Like many of the offerings in the Eiroa brand, the cigar is a Honduran puro highlighted by a high priming wrapper. The cigar is named for the Jamastran Valley in Honduras where the Eiroa family’s tobacco farms are located. According to C.L.E. Cigar Company founder Christian Eiroa, the Eiroa Jamastran is somewhat of a throwback to the bolder, fuller cigars he was known for during the days he owned Camacho. Today we take a closer look at the Eiroa Jamastran in the 11/18 size made for the TAA.

The TAA Exclusive Series consists of cigars made by leading manufacturers that are exclusively sold at TAA member retailers. The TAA is a small group of retailers. At press time the number of retailers is approximately 80. The TAA has defined itself as:

The Tobacconists’ Association of America, Ltd. is a trade organization established in 1968 by visionary retail tobacconists. By providing education, communication, research, advocacy, and member discount programs, The TAA works with our members and the industry they support to offer the tools and relationship building opportunities needed to maximize professionalism and success.

There are 14 cigars released for 2019 as a part of the TAA Exclusive Series:

The 2019 TAA Exclusive Series

This is the fifth year C.L.E. and its brands has been a part of the TAA Exclusive Series. Each of the previous four installments has eventually become regular offerings from C.L.E. Christian Eiroa has recently said the blend is being modified for the 11/18, so its not clear what the long-term future of the Eiroa Jamastran line will be in terms of the TAA release becoming a regular production one.

Other releases have included:

Without further ado, let’s break down the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Wrapper: Honduran
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Country of Origin: Honduras
Factory: El Aladino

Vitolas Offered

The Eiroa Jamastran is available in two sizes. The 11/18 size for the TAA. The 11/18 is a size introduced by Eiroa during his Camacho days. The vitola is a shape that is cylindrical that has tapering from both ends, but is not tapered as narrow as a perfecto or salomon. In the case of the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 it is a 60 ring gauge at its thickest point and a 52 ring gauge at its thinnest point. The size is named for the birthday of Eiroa’s mother.

The 50 x 5 Robusto size was made generally available to authorized C.L.E. Cigar Company retailers.

50 x 5
11/18: 6 1/4 x 60 x 52 (TAA Exclusive)

Both sizes are packaged in a trapezoid-shaped box – something that is also a throwback to the Camacho days.

Eiroa Jamastran Packaging (Photo Credit: C.L.E. Cigar Company)

Appearance

The Honduran wrapper of the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 had a medium brown – almost woody look to it. There was a light coating of oil on the wrapper. The wrapper itself was smooth and any visible veins and wrapper seams were on the thinner side. The 11/18 size had its thickest ring toward the center of the band.

Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 – Sleeve removed

The Eiroa Dark features two bands. The primary band is a variation of the original EIROA band with a black and silver scheme. The upper part of the band has a black circle with silver trim at the center of the band. On the center of that circle is the text “EIROA” in large silver font. Surrounding the “EIROA” name are the words “SALUD,” “AMOR”, and “PESATAS” in a smaller silver font. Sitting on that background above the circle is the text “Tradicion Tabacalera” in a light font. Below it is the text “Calidad Superior” – also in light font. The left and right side of the band has silver and black vertical striping. Sitting on the left side is a silver nameplate design with the text “HECHO 2019” in black font. On the right side is another silver nameplate design with the text “DESDE 1916” etched on copper.

There is a secondary band resting just below the primary band. The secondary band has a circular wedge on the upper portion that is almost meant to interlock with the primary band. This band has a black background on the center with the text “JAMASTRAN” in silver font. There is silver and black vertical striping on the left and right side of this band. On the left side of the band is a silver nameplate design with the text “HONDURAS” in black font.

C.L.E. Cigar Company brands are known for the use of tissue paper in lieu of cellophane to protect the cigar (Christian Eiroa has stated he is not a fan of cellophane). The Eiroa Jamastran features a tissue paper sleeving covering the lower half of the cigar. On the tissue paper is the text “JAMASTRAN” in large black font with the text “HECHO 2019” in a smaller white font. The remainder of the tissue paper wrap has a wallpaper like design with the text “EIROA” and a mountain design repeated across the wrap.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

After removing the paper sleeve, a straight cut was used to commence the cigar experience of the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw phase. The cold draw of the cigar delivered a mix of natural tobacco with both sweet and to a lesser extent bitter components. There were also black pepper notes and a touch of woody notes. I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to light up the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 and await what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 started out with notes of natural tobacco, black pepper, and roasted nuts. Right out the gate, the retro-hale delivered a unique combination of black pepper and herbal notes. It didn’t take long for the natural tobacco notes to go primary. The black pepper and roasted nuts settled in the background where they were joined by some notes of sweetened molasses. While the pepper was a secondary note, it gave the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 a nice “bite” on the tongue.

The second third started out with the natural tobacco notes still in control. Both the molasses and roasted nut flavors increased in intensity and by the midway point displaced the natural tobacco in the forefront. A woody note emerged in the background. The black pepper note remained at a constant level during the first third before increasing in intensity past the midway point.

The last third saw the roasted nut flavor still in the forefront. The molasses notes morphed into a citrus note and diminished into the background joining the natural tobacco, black pepper, and wood notes. This is the way the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

Except for a slight amount of waviness on the burn line, the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 performed quite well on the burn. The cigar had no problems maintaining a straight burn path. The resulting ash was firm with a near-white color to it. The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

Burn of the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18

Draw

The draw to the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 was skewed more toward the open side. While it wasn’t a loose draw, I usually prefer a little more in the way of resistance. There were no issues deriving flavors from this cigar. At the same time, the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 produced quite a bit of smoke.

Strength and Body

The Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 started out as a medium strength, medium to full-bodied cigar. Both attributes increased in intensity and by the second third, the cigar progressed into medium to full strength, full-bodied territory. Once past the midway point, the intensity increases leveled off and the cigar remained in medium to full strength and full-bodied.

In terms of strength versus body, the body maintained an edge throughout the smoking experience.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Back when the Eiroa Jamastran was first released in 2019, my first experience with it was a bit underwhelming. However, time has been very kind to this cigar and as it underwent some aging in the Cigar Coop humidor, it got better flavorwise. In the end, I found the Eiroa Jamastran 11/18 to be a flavorful and complex cigar – and it lives up to being a bolder offering. Many times when it comes to making a specific size available to the TAA Exclusive Series, it usually is the best size in the line. With the Eiroa Jamastran, I did find the 11/18 cigar outperformed the regularly available Robusto. In the end, this is a cigar I’d steer toward the more seasoned cigar enthusiast. At $16.50, this is not an inexpensive cigar, but it’s still one I would definitely smoke again and it’s worthy of having multiples in the humidor. It’s also worthy of being a TAA Exclusive.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Roasted Nuts, Molasses, Black Pepper, Citrus
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium (1st 1/3), Medium to Full (Remainder)
Body: Medium to Full (1st 1/3), Full (Remainder)
Finish: Very Good