Aladino Cameroon
The JRE Aladino Cameroon gets its inspiration from the old Camacho Select that came out in 2006. Julio Eiroa made that cigar before he sold the Camacho brand to Davidoff and was designed to be something totally different from the normally corojo filled cigars they were known form. It used Cameroon tobacco grown in Africa by the Meerapfel family.
Fast forward to 2020 and Julio wanted to create another Cameroon blend, but this time wanted to grow his own version of Cameron tobacco. The Cameroon used for the Aladino Cameroon is grown in Honduras. He procured the seeds from an international leaf broker after 3.5 years finally came up with the Cameroon he was satisfied with. The blend took some time to tweak as the original test blends were too close to existing cameroon wrapped cigars on the market. The final product uses a good balance of corojo. The original three sizes at launch were Robusto (5 x 50) – $8.80, Lonsdale (6 x 43) – $7.80, and Super Toro (6 x 52) – $9.80.
JRE Tobacco debuted quite a few new cigars at PCA 2021. Perhaps one of the most exciting ones was the Aladino Cameroon Elegante. The JRE Aladino Cameroon was released last year, and was the company’s first cigar with a Cameroon wrapper. Now, this year, that cigar was released in a traditional lancero vitola which they call the Elegante. JRE is one of the few companies that consistently offers lanceros in their lines, and says that they actually are some of their best sellers in their Corojo and Maduro lines.
The JRE Aladino Cameroon had a soft launch at Blue Smoke of Dallas in December 2020 and released even more to retailers who visited the farm in May 2021. Now, at PCA 2021 the company has made it a full-time cigar. The pricetag is a very reasonable $8.00 per stick. The cigar itself measures 7 x 38 and uses Honduran Cameroon for the wrapper, and Honduran Corojo for binder and fillers. The cigar is rolled at their Fabrica de Puros Aladino in Las Lomas Jamastran Honduras.
Habano Vintage Selection
The company also released two new sizes in their Aladino Vintage Selection line at PCA. These new sizes also come on the year anniversary of the original release. Last year, JRE came out with the Aladino Habano Vintage Selection Rothschild. This cigar was made with only tobacco grown on their Finca Corojo farms outside Danlí, Honduras and had actually been aged for 4-5 years after being rolled. These new sizes use the same blend, but do not have the same amount of post-roll age on them.
With the original Rothschild size, they wanted to make a cigar that was as creamy as possible, enjoyable by new and experience smokers. The new toro size measures 6 x 50 and the company says you can expect a similar experience to the original Rothschild, just lasting a bit longer. The new Elegante size, however, JRE says that it will have a bit more body and strength due to the higher proportions of the wrapper. This Elegante measures the same as the ones in the company’s other lines, 7 x 38. The blend for Habano Vintage Selection uses a Honduran Habano wrapper, and Honduran Corojo binder and filler. These are also rolled at Fabrica de Puros Aladino in Las Lomas Jamastran Honduras.
Aladino Corojo Reserva
The last new addition from JRE at PCA 2021 is a new size in their Aladino Corojo Reserva line, and Figurado. The new Aladino Corojo Reserva Figurado was actually released in June 2021 in honor of Father’s Day. This is a regular production addition to the Reserva line, but will only be available for Reserva accounts – those stores that carry more than 9 facings. All sizes in the Aladino Corojo Reserva line are regular production except the No. 4 will remains an annual release in November. This year will be the third release of the No.4, and pre-orders are currently being taken. The new Figurado measures 6 1/4 x 54 and is box-pressed. The cigar has an MSRP of $16.00. The blend uses all Honduran Corojo tobacco. It is also rolled at Fabrica de Puros Aladino at Las Lomas Jamastran Honduras.