El Rey del Mundo Grandes de España – 2006

[tigger]

Purchased via a box split, so I don’t have more detail than “2006.”

Initial Impressions:

A nice, finely veined Café au Lait wrapper, with a slight vegetal aroma to it. Mild tobacco scent at its well-constructed foot.

Cold Draw:

Just the right amount of resistance, with a mild earthy flavor and some notes I can’t quite place.

Initial Draws on Lighting:

Sweet, slightly nutty taste, with a warm peppery tingle on the finish

First Third:

Mild body. Delicate flavors I can’t put my finger on, in addition to the initial sweetness. Medium gray ash, which falls off after about an inch. Somewhere in the second inch, tannins start to mask the subtler flavors. Tannins recede some. There’s sweet woodiness (very pleasant) with a drier wood note on the finish. Shy, ethereal flavors dance around the third inch.

Second Third:

Still building on the sweet woody base, a hint of creaminess. More fleeting, pleasing flavors that I wish I could name.

Final Third:

Mas y mas. What a wonderful cigar! One of the few things I’m confident in labeling is burning applewood notes on the finish. No bitterness. Another year or two and I expect this will be at or close to perfection. Subtle and mysterious, yet light and refreshing. A look at the time reveals that I should be back at my office by now. Screw it.

Final Thoughts:

95 out of 100, with a few more points available when the tannins ease a bit more in the next few years.

Cigars like this one make me glad I only smoke a couple of times per week. Had I smoked it a decade ago, when I was smoking 3 or more per day, its intricacy and subtle charm would have been lost on me.

It’s what a Macanudo aspires to be, and isn’t.

Begs to be smoked slowly, and alone or with a quiet friend. It seems to me that in order to get the most out of it, it demands its smoker’s full attention. Before a meal, and with a very light beverage would be the time to smoke it.

A refined cigar which I would not hesitate to take home to meet Mom or to a black tie event, which at the same time can (and did) make me late late for work…

[brian1]

Very nice review. I have some of these from 1997 that i have yet to break into.

[greenpimp]

Very nice review. I also love this cigar, though I have only smoked a box from 1997. Have some 2006's I have yet to break into.

Interesting, my older ones are quite earthy and stronger than what you mention, medium plus body and strength. I wonder if this is another vitola in this marca that strengthens with age.

[El Presidente]

Great review.

Who would have thought a 2006 could be a 95 rated cigar. It is a great sign.

[tigger]

» Great review.

»

» Who would have thought a 2006 could be a 95 rated cigar. It is a great

» sign.

It was a welcome surprise, for sure. Perhaps I just had a shining example, but there really wasn't much more I could have asked of it.

[Colt45]

Very nice review!