The new Reo, made by Rocky Patel
Well - I was gifted and I smoked the brand new Reo Corona tonight... These Reo's (along with the new "Vibe") are made in the Rocky Patel factory in Honduras where the Edge cigars a made. The wrapper is aged Costa Rican, Binder is Nicarauan and the filler is Nicaraguan and Honduran. I don't know if these are in the stores yet, but I understand if they're not, they should be very shortly.
In a word - WOW!!! First off - I'm just starting to warm up to the box pressed cigars. I was not much of a fan until I started smoking the RP's and Padron Anniversary's. This cigar had incredible construction, and a flawlessm darker brown colored wrapper.
Pre-light - when I clipped the cap with my double guillotine cutter, the small cap portion exploded sending pieces of tobacco all over. That is the first time that has ever happened to me. To be honest, I was a bit concerned about the draw and the construction. But then I took some pre-light draws and was pleasantly surprised at how easy and nice the draw was. There was a slight sweet oaky taste.
When I lit the cigar, I was immediately met with a spicy taste - very interesting, and not overly so. The cigar lit very easily and uniform. The draw was right where I like it - not too loose, nor to tight. Plenty of rich, thick tasty smoke. Initially, I had trouble identifying the flavors, but there was definitely an explosion of flavors. The taste was very rich, earthy and seemed to me to be a heavy woody taste. It very much reminded me of the Edge, with a bit more spice (one of the complaints that I had about the Edge was it seemed to be lacking just a bit - the Reo seems to make up for it).
The spiciness was there to about the midway point. I found myself captivated with the rich, tasty smoke. Again, I was trying to distinquish flavors, but was overwhelmed at the richness of the flavor. Again, the pleasant woodiness of the taste is what struck me the most.
This was a cigar that I smoked completely down to the nub - and it maintaind it's excellent characteristics all the way through. I would say this was on the full side of medium - definitely not a light cigar, nor was it overpowering. I enjoyed the cigar with a Sprecher seasonal "Abbey Triple" Ale - and the cigar complimeted rich sweetness of the beer.
This is definitely a "must try" cigar!!! It's reasonably priced in the $4-$5 range, and absolutely worth the price. This one will make it into my regular rotation.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/ggiese/Reo.jpg
