Cigar Review: Reinado Habanito

Originally published at Tiki Bar Online

4″ x 38 ring gauge / $5.17, Uptown Cigars

We live in a fast paced world. That’s a simple fact that everyone knows. With smart phones and tablets, the portable processing power we have at our fingertips anywhere in the world is almost mind blowing. And it’s this power and portability that further speeds up our expectations and minimizes our patience for things and people. We don’t want to hurry up and wait. We just want everyone else to hurry up so we don’t have to wait.

However, for those of us siblings of the leaf, this hectic world in which we live can sometimes impede our time in which we relax and enjoy a nice cigar. Even the weather can be a detriment if you are one to smoke outside. So what is one to do?

Fortunately there are answers to these problems for those with little time to smoke. And one such offering is the Reinado Habanito from Antonio Lam’s line, Reinado Cigars. The Reinado Habanito is a 4 x 38 that Lam created for those with time restrictions in which a larger cigar like a robusto would take too long to fit into their busy schedule.

Aged for five years with a unique fermentation process, Reinado is a Nicaraguan puro with smooth, rich flavors. Wrapped in an oily Nicaraguan Habano Rosado wrapper, this little stick had such a sweet smell of tobacco and barnyard. There seemed to be no imperfections in the wrapper and the veins were petite and not going to give me any problems. Upon lighting, the cigar lit with ease and had a plenty of smoke. From the draw, I detected notes of sweet tobacco and cocoa with a hint of spice.

Heading into the middle of the cigar, the sweetness died down and I got more of a nutty flavor with some woodsiness. Further into the middle section, pepper notes appeared and added a new depth to this otherwise simple cigar. The burn was spot on and even throughout, and the smoke continued to be just right. The draw was ideal for this small offering as I’ve had some cigars rolled too tight for this size.

Smoothly entering into the last third of the cigar, the flavor transitioned to a bit of coffee and graham cracker with sprinkles of pepper, then joined with leathery notes at the nub. Again, this stick never needed a touch-up, and had plenty of billowy smoke throughout. For being so small, the Habanito was actually pretty complex. And it took me little more than 30 minutes to enjoy this little treat, so it’ great for any break where you don’t have an hour or more to enjoy a larger cigar. It’s not a real strong cigar, but it does have a little heft to it.

The Reinado Habanito is a great little offering from Lam and I definitely recommend that it’s worth picking up several for your enjoyment. I paid $5.17 for mine at Uptown’s in Nashville, which for the complexity and length of enjoyment, is in the $5 ballpark I feel it should be.

Body: 8/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 9/10

AFP Scale

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10