Review: El Rey del Mundo Especiales (ER Italia 2009)
I had high hopes for this cigar and it had everything going for it. Great looking stick with a light brown wrapper, an interesting shape (I am a sucker for a Piramide), and a great smell of hay and tobacco.
Alas, I was to be disappointed.
- Cigar Reviewed: El Rey del Mundo Especiales Piramide (Edicion Regional Italia 2009)
- Country of Origin: Cuba
- Factory: Briones Montoto
- Wrapper: Cuba
- Binder: Cuba
- Filler: Cuba
- Size: 5 1/2 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 52
- Vitola: Piramide
- Price Paid: $21
- Date Released: 2009
- Number of Cigars Released: 1,020 Boxes of 10 Cigars & 276 Boxes of 50 Cigars (24,000 Total Cigars)
This cigar epitomizes the reason cigar lovers have come to hate the idea of “Edicion Regional” releases of Cuban cigars. Unlike, say, the Ramon Allones Phoenicio or the Por Larrañaga Magnifico, the El Rey del Mundo Especiales (ER Italia 2009) was boring, bland and even annoyingly flat in terms of taste for pretty much the entire stick.
The main flavors, that I could actually taste anyway, were a little pepper (especially in the first third), chocolate, cedar and some spice, but everything seemed to be muted for the whole smoke, almost like I was smoking through a filter.
The cigar had a decent draw and burn, and it was a smooth cigar no doubt, but the lack of any dominant flavors really hurt the experience. It burned VERY fast and never hot, but after smoking it for 1 hour and 20 minutes I did not even feel like I had smoked at all.
The Bottom Line: Extremely mild and almost totally tasteless (albeit very smooth), the El Rey del Mundo Especiales (ER Italia 2009) is a truly disappointing example of what Cuba can put out. While Cubans are typically less spicy then non-Cubans, they usually have a bit more flavor to compensate. Well, that was not this one. This is one of those sticks you would give to a first time smoker who wants to try a Cuban cigar, if you liked them enough to waste $20 on them that is.
Final Score: 77
Hi, i'm writing from Italy.
I guess that now the cigar is better than 2009... try now it and let me know!
Have a good slow smoke...
The Cuban Regional Editions have been really hit or miss with me. Ive had a few that were wonderful (notably the Bolivar Colosales and the Juan Lopez Obus) but there have definitely been a few that did nothing for me. Great review!
I like milder, maybe it is ok.
Cool pics! Thanks for the review.
Nice pictures, too bad this stick doesn't seem to be worth the price. I haven't bought into the hype of the RE's, especially when there are so many great regular production CCs out there.
Bad break on that one, but after the PSD Reserva, PL and a Phoen it's got some tough competition.
It is unfortunate that this was a diappointment... far too many of the Edicion Regional and Edicion Limitada releases are not worth the premium price. (IMHO of course)
~Bill
MaytagMan
Thanks for the review.. it's out of my to-try list.
Sorry to hear it was such a disappointment to you Brooksey.
I was another excellant review and pic's though my brother!
I had some "El Rey del Mundo"'s but not liked them much as other brands. I was expecting RE to be (much?) better than regular releases.
Thanks for the review brooks. I must say i feel this way about A LOT of the regionals lately. They all seem to have a very cardboard, papery taste to them that isn't at all pleasant. I think these regionals have become so popular that Habanos SA is just pumping them out, giving every distributor just a bland blend with a new shape and people are going to buy it because it's a regional. There are some good ones, but they are few and far between...
thanks for the forewarning on this one brooks....seems to be a "buyer beware" stick
I was thinking about grabbing a few of those, I guess not now. btw brooks, have yous smoked any REs from France?
disappointing review... still looks worth a try though
what a bummer. these regionals don't seem to be cutting the mustard for you.
I was expecting a lot from this cigar. Maybe I'll still try one eventually. Any who, thanks for the review
Thanks for the review, great pictures as always!