La Reina Maduro Robusto (5x50)

La Reina Cigars are a blend of Corojo and Criollo 98. Corojo offers a stronger, spicier taste. These cigars are considered Medium to Full Bodied.

 My wife was recently given the opportunity to go on a trip for work called the Master Teachers Conference. In case you were wondering, she is a teacher at the local community college. She left last Sunday morning and finally arrived back today. That left me and our 4 year old at home to have "guy time". Through the course of our time I never found a minute for a cigar as I was trying to keep his mind off his mom being gone. This is the first time, other than a 2 day stay at the hospital,  they have been separated overnight. It proved to be stressful for him so I devoted my time to keeping him preoccupied with games and fun activities after we got home from work and daycare. After she and little man retired to bed it was finally "me time". I went to the humidor to pick my night cap. I was recently sent a couple of "stix" by Brad Bortz, the owner of www.cigarstix.com, and one of those was the La Reina Maduro in robusto size. I have never tried this boutique brand before so I decided to introduce myself. The dark maduro wrapper had a few visible veins but nothing that should alter the burn. It was firm through out with no soft spots. The wrapper had slightly sweet earthy aroma to it and the foot had a sweet tobacco smell. I paired it with some cold filtered water for the best discovery of the flavor profile. The cap clipped nice and clean with my freshly sharpened scissors and the pre light draw had a same slightly sweet eathy taste as the wrappers aroma. It started out, for me, a medium body with the flavor of toasted nuts, earthy spice, and a mild sweetness in the first third. The ash was a gray color and held tight for about 2 inches at a time. The second third kicked up in body bringing it to a medium-full. The toasted nut turned to more of an oaky woodiness as the earthy spice gave way to a more peppery tone and a slight hint of cedar joined in. As I entered the final third the body was on the higher end of medium-full and the strength increased a notch. The finish went from being toasty to a more woody with the occasional hint of citrus, almost like grapefruit. The toasted nut came back in the final third and the pepper seemed to intensify just a bit. I honestly didn't expect this cigar to be as complex or a strong as it was, but it was very enjoyable and the perfect welcome back to my nightly smoking routine. The draw throughout the burn was near perfect and burn went erratic on occasion but always corrected itself while it was resting. It gained body and strength as it burned down but was never harsh or overpowering. It was a very nice balance of sweet and spicy. If you like the bold and the flavorful, this one is worth trying. Thank you again Brad for allowing me to try this brand for the first time, I will definitely have to put a few more of these in the humidor for future late night smoking enjoyment. I recommend giving these a try. They are available at cigar www.cigarstix.com along with a variety of other premium boutique brands. I believe Brad has these by the box and also available as part of a sampler pack if you wanted to give them a try before committing to a box. You can find Brad on twitter at www.twitter.com/cigarstix