(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
At the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show, the company introduced the Balmoral Añejo XO Connecticut.
The Balmoral Añejo XO Connecticut utilizes a U.S. Connecticut Shade wrapper.
The cigars are produced at the Royal Agio cigar factory in San Pedro de Macaris in the Dominican Republic utilizing what the company calls an “exploratory blending philosophy” of company CEO Boris Wintermans.
Wrapper: Connecticut shade-grown
Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Filler: Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Pennsylvania
Available vitolas:
Torpedo Mk52 (6 1⁄4 x 52, MSRP $11.25)
Gran Toro (6 x 52, MSRP $10.50) REVIEWED TODAY
Rothschild Masivo (5 x 55, MSRP $9.75)
Corona (5 7/8 x 42, MSRP $9.00)
Petit Robusto (FT 4 1⁄4 x 48, MSRP $8.50)
The cigar is a light golden brown with an average feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors were a sweet cedar/pink grapefruit combination, tingly cinnamon and brown sugar, and a light black coffee base. There was a nice amount of black pepper which I rated at a 7 1/2.
At the first third (22 minutes) I got light chocolate notes to go along with the other flavors. The finish was a thick cream with a nice amount of lingering black pepper. The cigar is medium bodied at this point. The cigar is very flavorful. I really like the cedar/citrus combination with the large amount of cinnamon and brown sugar. It's a very sweet cigar at this point. I enjoyed the first third quite a bit. I rated the first third at 93.
At the second third point (44 minutes) I lost quite a bit of the nice, sweet cedar/citrus combination. The chocolate and black coffee notes, which are rather earthy, are elevated which lowered the sweetness. The black pepper seems to have move up a bit. The cigar is medium to full bodied at this point. The finish is unchanged. With the loss of a large amount of the sweetness I am lowering the second third score to a 91.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 5 minutes. That's a fairly short burn time for a toro. Here in the final third I lost even more of the sweetness. The chocolate notes are rather subtle so don't expect a large chocolate presence. There is still a lot of earthy coffee. The finish is unchanged. The cigar is still medium to full bodied. I was disappointed that the cigar transitioned so much away from the way it started. I loved the cedar/citrus combination with it's tangy sweetness. But, as the cigar burned it lost more and more. Here at the end there was very little. For the final third I lowered the score to an 89. The cigar starts out great but it loses a lot along the way.
Overall Score: 91
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