Review: Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial (Prerelease)
[UPDATE: These cigars have just been released, and they are now selling for about $7 per cigar (see here)~.ed]
For those of you that don’t know…
The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is a new cigar blended entirely by Jaime García, son of cigar legend José “Pepín” García, and was debuted at a event at at the Cigar Inn in New York City on Saturday, December 12, 2009. Only 100 boxes were available at the event, and it will be a limited cigar when released in the Spring of 2010, packaged in boxes of ten with an MSRP of about $250.
But enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?
- Cigar Reviewed: Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
- Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
- Binder: Ecuador
- Filler: Nicaragua
- Size: 6 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 56
- Vitola: Toro Gordo
- MSRP: $25 (Boxes of 10, $250)*
- Date to be Released: Spring 2010
*Event Price, not regular production.
The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is a gorgeous looking cigar, with a dark brown wrapper that smelled of chocolate, cinnamon and tobacco. It has a fairly rough looking wrapper with a few bumps here and there. It looks almost leathery and shows very little oil at all. It is also very spongy when squeezed, exhibiting quite a bit of give.
Immediately after lighting and taking a few puffs in the First Third, I was greeted with the following combination of flavors: black pepper, leather, a touch of coffee and a strong dark chocolate, almost, but not quite, bitter chocolate. The four of these in combination was a very nice way to start a cigar.
The Second Third of the cigar started out much the same, or rather, stayed the same, but right around the middle of the second third, I noticed that there was much more of a sweet flavor that had creeped in. Perhaps as if the chocolate, that was still very present, had gone from a dark chocolate flavor to more of a sweeter milk chocolate flavor, if that makes any sense. There was also just a bit of spice I noticed on the back of my tongue.
The Final Third had much of the same flavors, but I also tasted the distinct flavor of cinnamon, and the chocolate was almost replaced by a strong coffee flavor. I was easily able to nub it, and it never got hot at the end.
Final Notes:
- Although there was some pepper and a bit of spice present during the smoke, this cigar never rises above the “medium” level.
- The wrapper seemed to be where the pepper and spice was present, and the filler seemed to be quite a bit more mild.
- If this cigar is released in different sizes, I would love to try it in more of a Corona Gorda, or even a Lancero, which I think would combine what this cigar has to offer in the best ratios to really make it shine.
- The burn was great for the whole stick, but the draw was a bit loose, which is not unusual for a cigar with a large ring gauge.
- Final Smoking Time was 1 hour and 50 Minutes.
The Bottom Line: I really enjoyed the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial for what it was, a medium strength smoke with a great combination of flavors. I wish there was just a bit more pepper or spice in the smoke, and I hope it is released in different vitolas, as I think that would really help the flavors that were present shine a bit more.
Final Score: 89
Just read an article on this smoke on cigaraficionado.com that the price point will be around $6-$7.50 per stick.... works for me.
Glad you enjoyed it!! I love these! I think they will be boxes of 20 - at least that was what the boxes contained at the event. Being that the wrapper is aged for 6 years before being rolled, I think the potential price point of $12.50 ea is a good value. IMO these are only rivaled by the Franks (considering broadleaf maduro wrapped sticks that is). Loved the review Brooks!
Totally off topic but I just tried a tat reserva SW. Holy LORD...it was everything you said it was and more. AMAZING smoke!
If true, that price is ludicrous. One of the reasons I love Peeping is the price/value ratio. This one is totally out of whack.
BTW yall, I could not believe the estmated MSRP either, but you can see the Press Release here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23352123/Contact-Rene-J-Castaneda-Telephone-305-599-3395-E-Mail-Rc-Mccusa-net-Website-Www-miamicigarcompany-com
which clearly says that the MSRP of a Box of Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is $250.00 + taxes...I suppose that they could mean that there are boxes of more then 10 cigars, but that is not mentioned...
Wow $25 for a Pepin smoke? Ouch. I'm sure i will give it a try but it's going to have to really impress me to get me to choose it over a Padron 45.
CJ
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that all Cubans are superior to Domestics. I have some really good non CC's and Cubans that I didn't have to pay 25.00 for. For me it's hard to justify that price for one cigar. That's just my humble opinion.
I have 2 of these sitting the in Humi that I got at the Cigar Inn event. From what I remember the general consensous being at the event. It's a good cigar that branches away a little from "typical Pepin". I didn't hear anyone agree on what the price would/should be, especially since they where free at the door, and had a buy 1 get 1 box special.
Please no, not another 56 ring gauge cigar. And definitely no on the price.
As for the previous poster cj, cuban quality is as good as it's ever been. 2007, 2008, and 2009 cigars have received stellar reviews already. In fact, I'm not sure where you're reading, but MOST would agree it's the best tobacco to come out of Cuba since the mid 90's. As for cuban prices, they're as low as they've been in years as well and your regular productions vitolas (read, not LE, RE, etc.) are cheaper than just about all upper-end noncubans. "Regime" has nothing to do with it.
I don't get the previous post at all! If you(anyone)do a little searching, most would agree Cuba has some catching up to do in terms of tobacco quality. Besides, do we value the cigar through taste due to its cost....most of the time we do! A 25 dollar cuban might cost half that if the regime were not in tact.
I liked this review, and hope you were given the smoke and did not have to pay 25 big ones for it! I wonder what Garcia was thinking with this one, although 6 years is a long time for aging.
I love almost all of the Pepin cigars and will probably try this one when its released, but I'm finding it harder and harder to pay that amount of dough for a non-cuban cigar. Don't get me wrong there are a whole lot of Domestics I like, they are just at a lower price point.