Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the JRE Aladino Limited Edition is between light and medium brown and the decently raised veins carry a lighter color to them. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being the traditional design for the brand, but carrying a white, gold and red color combination. The foot band is white on gold, denoting Limited Edition. The aroma from the wrapper is cedar and light earth while the foot brings gingerbread. The pre-light draw consists of cedar, spice and a soapy floral note.
Seth: Simple, but lovely. The JRE Aladino Limited Edition is finished with a nice light chocolate brown coloring. Small veins throughout with a silky texture. The cigar is firm in hand, and has aromas of soft spices, graham crackers, cinnamon, leather, tobacco and cream.
John: The JRE Aladino Limited Edition comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker with an integrated tear space to remain intact when opened. The cigar has a primary Aladino band and a Limited Edition secondary foot band on white and gold. I weighed the cigar at 16.1 grams, and the humidity as measured by the HumidiMeter Pro was 60.3%. Aromas from the wrapper included tobacco, old barn wood and mild earth. From the foot, I was picking up on sweet hay and barnyard.
Jiunn: The JRE Aladino Limited Edition has an even Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper provide barnyard and cheese. Aromas from the foot tell of muted cedar. Cold draws reveal abundant roasted nuts and cedar.

JRE Aladino Limited Edition

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar and a gritty mixture of earth and baking spice. At a quarter inch in, some light mustiness joins the profile and the baking spice transitions to black pepper. At a half inch in, the grittiness has departed. The retrohale has the toasted cedar leading and then an even mix of earth, black pepper and mustiness. At an inch and a quarter, the mustiness is now in the middle of the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, black pepper and mustiness. The strength is slightly above medium.
Seth: The first third delivers a flavor profile of sharp spices that are paired with some leather and mineral qualities. Dry earth is present along with some graham cracker and cream notes. Bits of black coffee on the finish. Just under medium in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with spicy hay and wood at medium strength. Creamy spices and wood are present through the retrohale. The retrohale comes into balance about a half inch in with cream, bread, wood and then spices on the finish. As the first third continues, sweetness comes through at the end of the draw to balance out the spices.
Jiunn: The first third’s profile seems to be half asleep and trying to wake up (or at least I hope so). The flavors seem a bit muted with minerals, sweet roasted nuts and cedar. Retrohaling sort of awakens the palate with more intense minerals but it’s also one dimensional. The finish is a bit bland with soft black pepper spice. Strength and body is medium.

JRE Aladino Limited Edition

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth is now even with the toasted cedar up front and the black pepper mellows a bit. At two thirds of an inch in, a bit of cinnamon joins the profile. The retrohale is now musty, toasted cedar with earth and light black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with mustiness right behind, black pepper a little further behind and bits of cinnamon appearing in the background on random draws. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The second third continues to deliver those enjoyable flavors from the first third. Nice cereal and cream qualities with some tobacco, pepper, wood and mineral earth. Mocha qualities present as well on the finish. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: In the second third I’m greeted with bread, wood and sweet spices on the finish. Some mild dryness on the wood through the post draw as it continues. Mildly musty tobacco comes into the center moving towards the halfway point. Baking spices have moved up to medium strength on the post draw by the halfway point. In the bottom half, the profile becomes wood forward as bread and dry wood take up the center and light-plus spices and wood combine on the finish.
Jiunn: Still half asleep. The flavors still taste muted and a bit thin. Same flavors still, with minerals, sweet roasted nuts and cedar. Strength and body remains medium.

JRE Aladino Limited Edition

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the overall profile has become slightly dry and the bits of cinnamon appear to have departed. The retrohale remains musty, toasted cedar with earth and light black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the toast level picks up a bit and brings a light wood bitterness with it. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is musty, toasted oak and earth even up front with black pepper in the middle and light wood bitterness in the background. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
Seth: The final third delivers a stronger flavor profile while capturing those great qualities from the first and second third. Strong tobacco and pepper paired with leather, mineral earth and cream. Wood and mocha qualities on the finish. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood goes into the last third with mildly dry wood on the post draw. Bread returns to the profile as the wood takes on some tannins. Medium strength dry hay comes into the finish by the halfway point and takes over the post draw.
Jiunn: The final third shows more influence on minerals, so I suppose the flavors have woken up. But it’s not a good flavor profile, lacking in cohesiveness and fullness of flavors. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

JRE Aladino Limited Edition

Burn

Aaron: The burn line was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: Perfect burn.
John: The burn was initially straight, becoming uneven by the second third, eventually requiring a touch-up. The burn became uneven again requiring a second touch-up in the bottom of the second third. No issues through the last third.
Jiunn: Burn performance was perfect. Even burn, ample smoke production, tight ashes and cool burning temperature.

JRE Aladino Limited Edition

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Perfect draw.
John: The draw was roughly 1-1/2 to 2 notches into the resistant spectrum, which puts the draw at a very good rating.
Jiunn: Draw performance was on point, providing the ideal balance between air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar and a gritty mixture of earth and baking spice. Some mustiness joined in fairly quickly and the baking spice transitioned to black pepper. The second third saw bits of cinnamon appear on random draws. The final third saw the cinnamon depart and some light wood bitterness join in. Construction was absolutely perfect. The JRE Aladino Limited Edition had a nice profile through the first two thirds with a nice fullness and combination of flavors. The final third took a step back as the cinnamon departed and some wood bitterness joined the slightly drying profile. This is another good cigar from JRE and their Cameroon wrapper seems impressive. The price point is a bit high, but still delivers some value with the overall experience. I’d be up for coming back to this one.
Seth: This JRE Aladino Limited Edition really has a lot going for it. I think if you changed the band and didn’t tell consumers this was Honduran it would do even better. I’m serious. Great flavors with complexity and depth. Balanced throughout. Some transitioning, but it is not needed with the blend. Beautiful construction as well. Loved the growth on this cigar. I guarantee this will age well.
John: The JRE Aladino Limited Edition delivered some good flavor combinations through the first and second thirds, but as the wood took over the profile the last third lacked the same level of nuance and balance as the previous thirds. The draw had some minor resistance to it and the burn required two touch-ups to correct. I enjoyed the JRE Aladino Limited Edition, but given the number of well performing cigars at nearly half the price point, I would be hard pressed to choose the Limited Edition over the regular release offerings. Total smoking time was a long, slow 2 hours and 48 minutes.
Jiunn: The overall feel of this JRE Aladino Limited Edition is disappointment. JRE typically does a wonderful job of creating very attractively priced good cigars. So when an LE comes out and commands that much more, I expect it to taste that much incrementally better. In this case, it is far from that. Stick to the regular production.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$2.35

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.53

Cost/Point

$2.12

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.47

Cost/Point

$2.47

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.78

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: JRE Aladino Limited Edition