Eiroa The First 20 Years
Manufacturer: CLE Cigars – El Aladino factory
Brand: Eiroa
Shape: Corona
Length: 4 inches
Gauge: 44
Manufactured in: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduran Corojo
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduran
Strength-Profile: Medium-Full
MSRP: About $7.50 USD
Appearance & Construction (25)
This is a well-constructed cigar that shows attention to detail in every way. The Corojo wrapper is expertly rolled around the long filler tobacco, with hard to see seam lines and perfect fill. The cigar features a traditional triple cap, and when rolled in the fingers it is full from head to foot. There are no bulges or soft spots in this cigar, giving the cigar a perfect, well rolled feeling.
The wrapper is perfect in every way, small veining, without blemishes or color variations. The wrapper is dark, leathery and a bit oily. A beautiful cigar even in such a small vitola. There were no rips or cracks in the wrapper of the cigar, however upon removal of the band revealed an area where the wrapper appeared to have folded over on itself during rolling – an oversight that shouldn’t have made it past inspection in our opinion. Despite the wrapper issue, the presentation of this cigar is flawless.
I decided to v-cut this cigar, which in hindsight was a poor decision on my part considering the gauge of the cigar. Cutting with a v-cutter was accomplished, but with a little difficulty – despite the difficulty of cutting through the thick triple cap of this small cigar the head remained intact without damage, which was honestly a surprise.
Lighting of the cigar is quick and effortless using my triple flame torch, and the burn begins quite straight and uniform. The cigar maintained its pre-light construction characteristics without splitting, cracking or unraveling through most of the smoking experience. In the final third of the cigar the blemish in the wrapper caused a slight uneven burn, but despite this problem the construction of the cigar remained perfect.
The ash of this cigar was a medium gray color and very tight – I think that had this been a larger vitola the ash would have stayed on the cigar far longer than it did in this corona size. The first ashing occurred at about an inch into the cigar, maintaining a tight construction throughout the smoking experience. Second ashing occurred around the half way point, and the final ashing did not occur until I put the cigar down with only about half an inch remaining.
Overall the construction of this cigar and its appearance was beautiful, the fill of the cigar was uniform and perfect, never developing and soft spots during smoking. As a testament to how well the cigar is constructed, the total smoking time of this cigar came in at about 50 minutes, which for a corona sized stick exceeded my expectation.
Total Appearance and Construction: 20/25
Flavor (25)
The pre-light aroma of the cigar is amazing – notes of cocoa and sweet tobacco with hints of coffee and baking spices tease the nose, with an underlying note of wood, with cocoa being the dominant aroma. Cutting the cigar and taking a pre-light draw provides strong flavors of tobacco and an almost herbal taste with undertones of pepper.
Upon lighting the cigar, I am greeted with a mix of spice and herbal notes, with sweet tobacco all very creamy and balanced well together. Moving through the first third the beginning notes of sweet tobacco and herbal fade and give way to a predominant peppery spice mixed with notes of wood. The spice lingers on the lips and in the nose, but is not overpowering. The flavors are pronounced and medium in body, all making sure that they are known without smacking me in the face. The body of the cigar is medium in the beginning and remains this way through the first inch of the cigar.
Moving into the second third the spiciness moves to the background, making way for a more pronounced wood and leather taste with the peppery spice lingering on the finish. The body of the cigar is increasing to a medium-full. At about the halfway point of the cigar the peppery spice starts to give way to an underlying sweetness, which is mingling with the wood and leather and creating for a very relaxing, intriguing flavor profile.
Moving into the final third of the cigar we finally see flavors of cocoa that emerge, and for the beginning of the final third cocoa and hints of cream are in the forefront with notes of leather and wood lingering in the background. The cocoa and cream don’t stay long, almost like a sweet reward for smoking the cigar, as they slowly fade to the background and the wood and leather again emerges to the front. Halfway through the final third and nearing the end of the cigar pepper makes a strong come back, like a final salute and is long on the finish leaving the lips and nose tingling well after putting the nub down.
The flavor of this cigar was so balanced and while changing it did so slowly, introducing the new flavors in the background as they steadily made their way to the front, and faded back again to make way for the next. I wish there would have been more of the cocoa and cream that I experienced at the end of this cigar, as it balanced to well with the undertone of wood and leather. I am anxious to try a larger vitola in hopes of experiencing a longer presence of this profile.
Total Flavor: 23/25
Smoking Characteristics (25)
This cigar was very easy to light using a triple flame torch, and I suspect would have been easy to light using a match or spire as well. I was surprised that the small gauge was able to maintain such a straight burn line down the cigar – another testament I believe to the expert craftsmanship when bunching the filler. The cigar maintained an almost razor-sharp burn line all the way to the wrapper blemish in the final third, and even then, the cigar did not canoe or burn at an angle, just became a little wavy on that side of the cigar.
The draw on this cigar is something that I would describe as perfect – even with a large open notch cut the draw was not extremely easy, nor was it hard. The smoke flowed at a nice, consistent rate, with little effort.
The smoke produced by this cigar is thick and hangs in the air well, with a creamy feeling on the exhale – the aroma of the cigar during smoking is another experience of itself, with a lovely mixture of cocoa, sweet tobacco, baking spice and wood – I think I would have enjoyed being the presence of this cigar being smoked almost as much as I enjoyed smoking the cigar! Combined with the flavor profile of the cigar, this was a smoking experience that I would have been happy with lasting for much longer.
The balance of the cigar was perfect, there are no harsh or sudden changes in the flavor profile nor the body of the cigar. It started medium in body and gradually made its way to medium-full by the second third. Flavors mixed together and changed in graduation, balancing each other out, without fighting for dominance. Just a fantastic example of tobacco blending in this cigar.
Total Smoking Characteristics: 25/25
Overall Impression (25)
This was an impressive cigar. I don’t usually choose the smaller vitola’s, but while at my local brick and mortar store several months back I saw this stick and decided to add it to the humidor – it was the only vitola they had so I wasn’t left with much option on sizing. Despite its small size, this cigar doesn’t disappoint in any way. With a nearly flawless construction, impeccable burn, bold and consistent flavors and body, this cigar has definitely made it to my must buy more list.
I was a little disappointed in the wrapper flaw, and more disappointed that rather than the stick being culled, the flaw was covered with the band and put into a box.
Total Overall Impression: 23/25
Final Notes
This is a cigar that we would classify as a top shelf smoke, and is something you want to keep around for when a good smoke is desired that not only tastes and smokes great, but is a pleasure to be in company of as well. While the price point of the stick might turn some smokers in the opposite direction, we would encourage you to give these Eiroa cigars a try. Fully impressed with this offering, we can tell that the makers of this cigar have a history in the business, earning this cigar an A rating with an overall score of 91/100.
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