JRE Cigars introduced a unique cigar at the 2024 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show: the JRE Aladino Cameroon Reserva. This cigar is made completely of Cameroon tobacco grown in Honduras by Julio and Justo Eiroa at the JRE tobacco farm. This special cigar has been in development since 2017.

Blend and Origin

Wrapper: Honduran Cameroon
Binder: Honduran Cameroon
Filler: Honduran Cameroon
Country of Origin: Honduras
Factory: Fabrica de Puros Aladino at Las Lomas Jamastran

Cigar purchased at B & B Tobacconist in Asheville, NC

Vitolas Offered

The JRE Aladino Cameroon Reserva is a limited-edition cigar. It is only available in a toro in a 6 x 52 size and has an MSRP of $22.00.

Appearance

The JRE Aladino Cameroon Reserva has what appears to be a delicate wrapper with a medium brown color and a slight grayish tint.  The wrapper has a toothy texture with minimal veining and some slight mottling.  The wrapper isn’t very oily but doesn’t look dry either.  The cigar features two bands, with the main band in the same style as the traditional Aladino band with more elaborate scrollwork added.  The secondary band has “Cameroon Reserva” embossed on it, and both bands feature a striking brown-to-maroon color gradient.  The foot features a ruby-colored silk ribbon band as well.

Prelight

The cap is well applied, which I removed with my guillotine cutter. I removed the ruby-colored foot silk ribbon, which not only looked quite fetching but also protects the foot of the cigar very well. As I tested the draw, which was a perfect milkshake draw tension, I got notes of cedar, hay, earth, and pecans.

Tasting Notes

The JRE Aladino Cameroon Reserva started off with notes of caramel, white pepper, cedar, earth, leather, buttered toast, pecans, and a hint of baking spices. The caramel was the main note, with the others doing an excellent job of supporting it. As the first third burned a little further, I started picking up a hint of a citrus note that brightened the flavor profile slightly. The retro-hale had notes of the caramel and white pepper.

As the cigar entered the second third, the notes remained mostly the same. They started to even out and meld more together. The caramel started to tame somewhat, and the buttered toast, white pepper, baking spices, and a hint of citrus peel came together to form what I can best describe as a spiced cake note. It’s very delicious and really rounds out the flavor profile nicely with the cedar, leather, and earthy notes.

The final third becomes a little less complex but still exhibits really good flavors. The caramel note is still there, along with the baking spices, white pepper, and cedar. The mixing of those notes still gives me the spice cake general overall flavor, but it has faded somewhat.

Burn

The burn of the JRE Aladino Cameroon Reserva was good throughout the entire cigar.  I never had to relight the cigar, but the burn was sometimes a little wavy.  The burn line was very thin, showing that the wrapper was well fermented.

Draw

The draw throughout the thirds was very good. It maintained that milkshake tension from beginning to end. The smoke production was really good, too, and produced voluminous smoke.

Strength, Body, and Flavor

The strength of the cigar remained constant throughout the whole smoking experience.  I would put the strength at mild-medium while the body, I would say, was medium.  The flavor was rich and robust throughout, which was medium-full.

Final Thoughts

The JRE Aladino Cameroon Reserva is an excellent cigar.  It really showed what can be done with Cameroon tobacco outside of its natural home of Cameroon.  Creating a cigar that is a Cameroon puro with tobacco grown in a new region like Honduras was a gamble for JRE, but I think they pulled it off.  Honduran Cameroon tobacco exhibited nice flavors, which you would expect from the Eiroa family.  As a big fan of Cameroon tobacco, I’m looking forward to what else they can do with it in the future.

Final Score:  93