Aladino Candela Toro by JRE Tobacco Co.

Today, we look at the Aladino Candela in the Toro size from JRE Tobacco Co. Back in 2016, when Julio and Justo Eiroa announced the formation of JRE Tobacco Co, two things immediately came to mind – Corojo and Candela. Regarding these two types of tobacco, it’s safe to say that Julio R. Eiroa is the king regarding both. The story of Julio reintroducing the Authentic Corojo seed back to the market is well-known. Some people may not realize that Julio was the largest producer of Candela tobacco. When JRE launched, they started with Corojo and incorporated it into many blends. However, it wouldn’t be until 2023 when they would release a cigar with Candela – and that cigar is the Aladino Candela.

While Corojo is a seed, Candela is not a seed. Candela is the result of a flash-curing process that holds the chlorophyll content, resulting in the leaf keeping its green color. Candela can be derived from a variety of different types of tobacco grown from different seeds. Corojo is one seed that is used for Candela. It is the leaf that is used on the Aladino Candela. Candela was used on the famed Camacho Candela. Camacho was a brand owned by the Eiroas.

Let’s go ahead and break down the Aladino Candela Toro without any more ado and see what this cigar offers.

Aladino Candela Toro by JRE Tobacco Co. – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Aladino Candela is a Honduran puro. It consists of tobaccos grown on the JRE Tobacco Farm in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras. Production comes from Julio Eiroa’s Fabrica de Puros Aladino S.A. facility adjacent to the farm.

Wrapper: Honduran Candela (Corojo)
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Country of Origin: Honduras
Factory: Fabrica de Puros Aladino S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The Aladino Candela first made its debut in 2023 in the Robusto size. At that time, 400 boxes of 20 cigars were “soft launched” to a group of select retailers. For 2024, Aladino released the Toro size. This had a wider distribution of 1,200 boxes of 20 cigars open to all retailers.

Toro: 6 x 50 (Released 2024)
Robusto: 5 x 50 (Released 2023)

Appearance (*)

Generally, on a candela cigar, I’m a sucker for that Kermit the Frog green color. In the case of the Aladino Candela Toro, the wrapper was more weathered. It was still green, but it seemed like it was losing some of its green, with some browning starting to form. The wrapper still has plenty of charm to it. There wasn’t much in the way of oils on the cigar’s surface. There were also some visible veins and some thin, visible wrapper seams.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Before lighting up the Aladino Candela Toro, a straight cut removed the cigar cap. Once the cap was removed it was on to the pre-light draw ritual. The pre-light draw delivered notes of grass, cream, and lemon sweetness. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast up the Aladino Candela Toro and see what the smoking experience would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Aladino Candela Toro opened up with more cream, grass, and lemon notes. There was also a cedar component. There was no dominant note through the early stages of the cigar experience. As the cigar reached the midway point of the first third, the grass notes emerged as primary, with the cedar, cream, and lemon notes becoming secondary. Toward the end of the first third, the sweetness diminished. The lemon note became more of a lemon-rind note. Some earth and pepper entered the tongue. There was an additional layer of wood on the retro-hale.

The grass notes remained primary during the second third of the Aladino Candela Toro. During this phase, the cedar notes increased in intensity. The cedar notes joined the grass at the forefront just past the midway point. There were still notes of lemon rind, earth, and pepper present. The cream notes had pretty much dissipated by this point.

The final third saw the grass and cedar notes remain in the forefront. There was an increase in pepper. At the same time, notes of lemon rind and earth rounded out the flavor profile. The final stages of the Aladino Candela Toro had a slight harshness. This is how the Aladino Candela Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and warm in temperature.

Burn

Three samples were smoked for the assessment of the Aladino Candela Toro. While the cigar’s burn maintained a straight burn line, one issue occurred toward the end of the first third—namely, the cigar started to tunnel. In each case, I caught it and managed to mitigate it from being a significant problem. Still, I got the feeling that in each of the three cases, I was getting more filler than wrapper, so when I asked, my suspicions came true.

As for the ash, it wasn’t an overly firm ash, but it wasn’t loose either. There were multiple shades of gray on the ash. As for the burn rate, it was ideal. There was a warm nub when some of the harshness happened on the final puffs, and I suspect the two were tied together.

Burn of the Aladino Candela Toro

Draw

The draw to the Aladino Candela Toro was open but not loose. I prefer a little more in the way of some resistance on the draw. At the same time, this was a low-maintenance draw from which to derive flavor.

Strength and Body

The Aladino Candela Toro is a throwback to the days of the milder candelas. This cigar remained mild in strength from start to finish. The body remained in the mild to medium category for the first two-thirds and then moved to medium in the final third.

The body maintained an edge throughout the smoking experience regarding strength versus body.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

The company opted to use the same band design on the Aladino Candela as it did on the original Aladino (Corojo) and Aladino Maduro. This is the brown, yellow, and white “A” band with the red and black cracked pattern. I found the bands worked, and I liked them better than making a green variant band. The boxes are slightly different as Aladino used the red and black cracked pattern.

Aladino Candela Box with cigar (Photo Credit: JRE Tobacco Co)

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I mentioned that the Aladino Candela Toro is very much a throwback candela, in that it is on the milder side. Today, many companies are trying to do the next best thing and make a bolder candela – and most of the time, they have failed. I liked that Aladino is keeping it traditional here – and they do a good job with this. This cigar did get dinged in two areas – the tunnel issue during the burn and some of the harshness at the end. Still, it’s a pretty good cigar. If you are a candela fan, you will want to smoke this. If not, this is a nice cigar to try a sample of and see if it’s for you.

Summary

Key Flavors: Grass, Cedar, Lemon, Earth, Cream, Pepper
Burn: Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Mild
Body: Mild to Medium (1st 2/3), Medium (Final Third)
Finish: Good