Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial Corojo

Last month, the latest Cigar Rights of America (CRA) Freedom Sampler began shipping to stores.

The “CRA Freedom Samplers” have been a steady presence since 2019, though the organization has been selling samplers similar to this for more than a decade. While there have been some recent modifications, the basic premise has been that 10 companies—more or less the 10 companies that primarily fund CRA—have donated cigars to the organization, which are then sold to cigar shops and consumers. The proceeds from the sales are used to fund the organization, which is one of the three main cigar trade groups.

Those 10 companies are:

• Alec Bradley
• Arturo Fuente
• Ashton
• J.C. Newman
• La Flor Dominicana
• My Father
• Oliva
• Padrón
• Rocky Patel
• Tatuaje

The most recent sampler differs from most of the previous samplers because not all 10 companies submitted cigars. The La Flor Dominicana entry was replaced by a cigar from E.P. Carrillo, and some samplers will come with a God of Fire release instead of a Padrón. In addition, the sampler is priced at $149—last year’s Spring sampler was priced at $160—but does not include a one-year membership to Cigar Rights of America.

• Oliva Serie V Melanio Figurado (6 x 52)
• Avion 13 Tuxtla (6 7/8 x 52)
• Rocky Patel 50th Anniversary Toro (6 1/2 x 52)
• Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial Corojo (6 x 52)
• Alec Bradley Trilogy Corojo (6 x 52)
• Diamond Crown Black Diamond Emerald (6 x 52)
• E.P. Carrillo Core Plus Club 52 (6 x 52)
• La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse Regency (5 1/2 x 50) (or La Aroma de Cuba Small Batch #225 (6 x 52)
• Padrón Black No. 52 (or God of Fire Serie Aniversario 56 (6 1/2 x 56))
• Casa Fuente Corona Gorda (5 5/8 x 46)

As you can see, some of these cigars are cigars that are very difficult to find, but there are two all-new cigars that appear to be debuting in this sampler, the My Father and the Padrón cigars.

Janny García, vp of My Father Cigars, Inc., told halfwheel that the Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Corojo is a cigar the company has been working on for a number of years. It uses the regular Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial blend, but the Connecticut broadleaf wrapper is replaced by a Nicaraguan corojo 99 leaf.

García left the door open for the cigar being released in the future. For now, this appears to be the only way to purchase this cigar.

• Cigar Reviewed: Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial Corojo
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: My Father Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaragua (Corojo 99)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro
• MSRP: $14.90 (Samplers of 10, $149)
• Release Date: June 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 6,000 Total Cigars
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

While it would have been nice to have something that would more easily identify than this is not simply another Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial, the wrapper is a pretty good indication. It’s substantially lighter in color than what I have come to expect compared to the original version of this cigar; this version has a great milk chocolate color with some reds. It’s consistent in color from head to foot with a moderate amount of oil. The triple caps are very nicely applied, though running my hand up and down the cigar reveals quite a few bumps and there’s what appears to be an above average amount of veins. The medium-full aroma from the wrapper has a lot of milk chocolate over some acidity that smells not too dissimilar to sweat. Milk chocolate dominates the medium-full foot aroma, leading wheat pasta, ketchup scents and touches of wood. In what’s a pretty rare occurrence, milk chocolate is also the lead flavor of the cold draw, completing a trifecta of sorts. Additionally, there’s nuttiness, some black tea flavors and a mild amount of raisins.

As is often the case, the cold draw is not a good indicator of the first puff of the cigar. Despite milk chocolate dominating just about every part of the pre-light evaluation, there’s no milk chocolate to be found once the smoke hits my palate. Instead, it’s a pretty even mixture of earthiness, cedar and leather along with some herbal flavors and a pear sweetness, right around medium-full. After four or five puffs, a more carbohydrate-laden list of flavors begins to take over the Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial Corojo’s profile. While each puff is a bit different, I find flavors similar to classic Pringles potato crisps, cedar and nuttiness as the leading flavors. Those flavors seemingly rearrange their intensity order on each puff, but I also find secondary notes of oak and some stale bottled water-like flavor. The finish transitions with that bottled flavor before black pepper, some more cedar and a rocky mineral flavor emerges, though the latter is only on the sides of my tongue. Additional flavors include mild citrus and some generic harshness. Retrohales have peanuts, Worcestershire sauce, licorice and a touch of maple syrup. They finish with hay, a gritty earthiness, some black pepper and an underlying sweetness. Flavor is full, body is full and strength is medium-full. Each cigar makes it through the first third without any construction issues.

With less of the Pringles and cedar flavors, nuttiness really gets a chance to stretch its proverbial legs during the second third of the Jaime Garcia Reserve Especial Corojo. It’s not as dominating as it probably could be, but it is the leading flavor for nearly every puff during the second third. Interestingly, the stale water flavor is the next closest thing, now sitting ahead of cedar. Additional secondary notes include some herbal flavors, white pepper and black pepper, though all are quite minor in comparison. The finish has a more defined peanut flavor and a much stronger white pepper flavor over hay and some vanilla bean ice cream flavors. Cap’n Crunch, a very distinct flavor that I seem to find in a cigar a handful of times per year, is the first thing I notice when taking retrohales during the second third. That sweeter cereal flavor is balanced out by some herbal flavors, white pepper and a less sweet ketchup. The finish is a relatively even mixture of herbal flavors, dry bread, saltine crackers and black pepper, though the latter stands out as the strongest flavor. Flavor is probably more medium-full than fun, but it’s close, body is medium-full and strength is medium-full. Two of the three cigars need touch-ups to help with smoke production during the second third.

Peanuts and hay, the latter of which was present in the second third of one cigar but not the other two, a lot during the final third. It’s a very predictable conclusion on that one sample, but I’m surprised to see its consistent presence on the other two cigars. There’s also some amaro flavors, a mineral earthiness but surprisingly no real pepper until the finish. About five seconds after the smoke leaves my mouth, my taste buds feel the pepper tingle from black pepper along with some oatmeal cookies, earthiness and lots of bread flavors. Retrohales have sunflower seeds, nuttiness, a mild cranberry juice and some mild blueberry flavors. The retrohale’s finish has black pepper and toastiness, just on the left side of my mouth, along with flavors of bread and herbs. Flavor and body are both medium-full, strength is medium-plus. Touch-ups are needed on all three cigars, though I’m not sure I’d notice if this wasn’t a review.

Final Notes

• The first cigar was notably sharper—and at limited times, harsher—than the other two cigars. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. The second cigar struggled with construction issues more than the other two, though the difference was basically two additional touch-ups.
• After typing all of the above, I went and looked back at the information Patrick got from My Father when he asked about this cigar back in early June. Janny García said, “It is a full body cigar and very complex however I would say it is a bit less stronger than the regular line.” I’d agree with those assessments for the most part. It’s tough because there’s no universal standard for “full” or “complex,” both are subjective, but I think they fit well here.
• I really like My Father’s approach to this CRA sampler. While it’s definitely cool to get some of the more exclusive cigars in the sampler, it’s nice to be able to get something that is really otherwise not available.
• Creating a special band just for this release is definitely not something I’d expect a cigar company to do for such a small release. I think a ribbon on the foot—in addition to the main band—would be pretty easy to do and certainly something I’d appreciate to make it clear that this isn’t just another Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial release.
• I’m told Cigars Rights of America is revamping its consumer membership program; if you’d like to support the organization, outright donations or purchases like these will help.
• Supporting Cigars Rights of America is a good cause. The organization paid the entire legal bill of Michael Edney, the lead attorney, in the most recent litigation against FDA’s deeming regulations. That most recent action produced a very big win earlier this month, one that could lead to the regulation of premium cigars like this.
• Robert Levin of Ashton/Holt’s is once again the president of Cigar Rights of America. He recently took over the post from Karen Smith, Arturo Fuente’s attorney.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was a very long three hours on average.