Casa Royale

[CasaSoho]

I picked up a dozen of these sticks through Holt's on a $34.95 shipping included special. Beyond the sub $3 price point, my motivation for ordering was for nothing more than I liked the look of the band.

From Holt's marketing: "This cigar shares a wrapper leaf with Tatuaje's prized Black Label. It certainly isn't Pepin's strongest blend but what it lacks in punch it more than makes up for with a complex and dizzying blast of flavors ranging from spicy earth and cedar to creamy leather and nuts. Though it's not the prettiest wrapper on the market, once you smoke it you won't care what it looks like, it's just plain good."

First Third - 4/10, Holt's was not kidding when they said this cigar does not have the prettiest wrapper on the market. It had a very matte finish, lacking even trace amounts of surface oils. Construction was a little loose at the seems. I was dissapointed in the band, it lacked the sharpness of the catalog photos. I took a pre-light smell and the first to hit was the scent of peanut butter. That's right .... peanut butter. Not the freshly ground stuff either, it smelled partially of Reese's. The scent was distinct from any other tobacco leaf brought to my nose. As I continued to investigate I picked up a dirty goat barnyard smell. Not a good start.
I toasted the foot with my butane torch which ran dry mid light and finished with a wooden match. Not a lot coming out of this cigar in the first third, very muted spice, but somehow left a harshness in the back of my mouth.

Middle Third - 5.5/10, Harshness subsided a bit and nutty flavors emerged. Rather one dimentional, but not so boring to stop me from continuing on.

Final Third - 3.5/10, At this point I was just smoking for the sake of smoking. I was in the process of reading over notes for an exam on Tuesday; the cigar served its purpose. It was better that I puffed away on a $3 smoke than lose the experience of a higher end stick while focusing on perscriptive easements and equitable servitudes.

Overall 4.33 - I will likely give another a try on an occassion where I expect to be interrupted. After all, I have 11 left.

 

[CRQuarto]

Heh, reminds me of the first Gurkha Vulcan I had. Very one dimensional, sort of boring smoke.

You know, the part that claims it shares the same wrapper as the Tat's makes me wonder how true such a statement is. I mean, I would expect them to smoke drastically different (after all, just the wrapper is supposedly the same, not the binder or filler), but you would think that with a wrapper of that quality it would have at least a bit more of a flavor profile? Of course, you did say it was bone dry, so perhaps the lack of oils in the stick contributed to the taste.... :blush: Either way, good review, thank you sir for the opportunity to read it!

 

[CasaSoho]

Have not had the Tat Black. I suppose it would make for an interesting comparison. It's difficult to believe they share the same wrapper, perhaps this is a "second" of sorts for the wrapper leaves unable to make the cut.

 

[CigarMan Andy]

Thanks for the review. Try another. I enjoyed the one I smoked. I was pleased for the money.