Juan Lopez Ideales RE Austrua, BME SEP 11 DEFJ Review Weekend

[Guest Nekhyludov]

My recent experience with Juan Lopez has been something of a mixed bag, and I've rarely found a petit robusto that has any real complexity or evolution, so I've been putting off trying the Ideales. But this is as good an opportunity as any, so off I go ...

The Ideales is an unremarkable looking cigar. The wrapper is a plain medium colorado color, with enough veins left to wrinkle around the seams. There's just a hint of sheen, but nothing special. The cold aroma is mild and papery. It ignites evenly and produces a pleasantly open draw and a heavy smoke output. The burn is perfectly even and produces a flaky white ash.

The very first draw fills the palate with a pleasant sweet wood flavor and a hint of citrus zest. There's just a bit of salt and white pepper on a very smooth retrohale. Through the remainder of the first half, the profile becomes loses some of the precise wood notes and becomes more rounded. The growing depth of character produces some sourdough notes and an increasing sweet citrus cream aspect. The performance has been flawless through the half.

By the start of the second half, the Ideales has reverted to a wood-dominant profile, but the sweet aspect has gone. There's still a bit of a sourdough bread note lingering. Shortly afterward, the wood base begins to take on a charred note, and I put the Ideales down shortly after.

Despite the disappointing ending, this is the best petit robusto I can recall smoking, although there haven't been many to compare it to. And the first half was certainly one of the more enjoyable experiences I've had with a Juan Lopez. I'd give it somewhere in the neighborhood of 88 points.

[TheMonk]

Good review, shame you didn't enjoy it all that much!