Video review HERE.
Laranja is Portuguese for orange which is also the name for this wrapper that comes from Recôncavo region of Brazil located in the state of Bahia. This cigar represents the first time Espinosa has used Brazilian tobacco in their cigars.
This cigar was debuted at this year's IPCPR in Las Vegas.
“I wanted to release something different for the show, we had started working with this orange Brazilian Laranja wrapper last year and we are very excited with the end result. I have always liked the color orange (laranja which is the Portuguese word for orange) and the positive energy associated with that color. It is the color of enthusiasm, creativity, determination and success, that’s what we are all about here” said Erik Espinosa.
The Espinosa Laranja Reserva is made at Espinosa's La Zona factory.
Wrapper: Brazilian Laranja
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
The Espinosa Laranja Reserva is available in three sizes. Each size will be available in 20 count cedar boxes.
Corona Gorda: 5 5/8 x 46 (SRP $9.90)
Robusto Extra: 5 1/2 x 54 (SRP $10.50)
Toro: 6 x 52 (SRP $10.90) REVIEWED TODAY
The cigar is a medium brown and the wrapper is not oily. It is dense feeling in the hand.
It is also triple capped.
For today's cigar I chose to use the new ScrewPop Cigar Punch 2.0.
After making the punch cut the test draw was very good. The initial flavors were sweet orange citrus, graham crackers, coffee, and a ton of black pepper and red pepper. The pepper combination is rated at an 8.
3/4 inch in I am satisfied with the initial flavor assessment but you can add dry roasted nuts. The red pepper is attached to the graham cracker notes. There continues to be a nice sweetness on the orange citrus. The finish is one of brown sugar and cream with a lot of lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied at this point. I sense that the front end flavors will be changing soon.
1 1/2 inches in the sweetness is picking up and there is a touch of richness which appears to be coming from the brown sugar, which is now on the front end now. The finish is very nice with the brown sugar and cream but the lingering pepper has dropped a bit on the finish.
2 1/2 inches in the ash is still intact. The orange citrus has changed over to a sweet cedar. There are a lot of graham cracker notes to go along with it. The roasted nuts are very much in play. The coffee is subtle. The cigar is still medium bodied but it is creeping toward medium to full.
At the band I have lost the graham cracker notes. I still have the sweet cedar, brown sugar, red pepper, and roasted nuts. The black pepper is very subdued. The cigar is medium to full bodied. So far we've lost the orange citrus and graham cracker notes. The finish is unchanged in flavor but I've lost even more of the lingering pepper.
There were a lot of changes from the last segment to now. The biggest one may be the strength. It is now full bodied. The black pepper is back. You still have the cedar but none of the previous richness, red pepper, black pepper, roasted nuts, brown sugar, and subtle coffee notes. The finish is about the same but the lingering black pepper has ticked back up. This has been an interesting cigar with lots of twists and changes. I prefer the way it started out. These are around $9 each. I liked this cigar but would have preferred it to be the way it started out.
Score: 91
No comments:
Post a Comment