Cigar Info
The recently General Cigar spinoff, The Forged Cigar Company, owned by STG (parent company of General Cigar), announced at the beginning of the year that they would be selling the El Rey Del Mundo. The Forged Cigar Company cigars are only sold at brick and mortar shops. Prior to this announcement, the El Rey Del Mundo brand was exclusive to JR Cigars and was one of their top-selling brands for more than 20 years. The cigars are rolled at Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s HATSA factory in Honduras.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
The new El Rey Del Mundo comes in two blends: a natural version with an Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper and a Connecticut Broadleaf-wrapped maduro, each uses a Honduran-grown binder and filler. El Rey Del Mundo launched with six sizes, one natural and five maduro: Café au Lait (Natural)(4.5” x 36); SRP per cigar $4.80; available in 24-count boxes, Café Noir (Maduro) OSC (4.5” x 35); SRP per cigar $4.80; available in 24-count boxes, Robusto (Maduro) OSC (5: x 54); SRP per cigar $5.40; available in 20-count boxes, Robusto (Maduro) Larga OSC (6” x 54); SRP per cigar $5.80; available in 20-count boxes, Robusto Supremo (Maduro) OSC (7.25 x 54); SRP per cigar $6.80; available in 20-count boxes, and Ronco (Maduro) OSC (6” x 60); SRP per cigar $7.00; available in 20-count boxes.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Honduras
Factory: HATSA
Blender: Undisclosed
Number of reviewers: 4 – Chad M. (Chad Tchad) Joseph S. (Bearded Bastard) Lauren S. (Lauren S.) Randy B. (randobush)
Price: $5.80
Age: 6 Months
Release Date: February 2021
Contributed by: The Forged Cigar Company
Initial Impressions
Appearance: 90
“Very dark dense looking cigar. The wrapper is very lumpy and bumpy along the whole cigar.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
Aroma: 88
“Barnyard aroma at the foot. Light musty leather on the length snort.” –Randy B. (randobush)
First Third
Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Right from the start flavors of cedar, salty flavor is coming through. There is also some deep layer of coffee and musty flavor in this mixture. On retrohale strong black pepper flavor. The ash is staying on with a very light white color. Very mild smoke output. ” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
“First light, draw, and smoke output just about right. I had a back molar pulled 3 days ago, so if there was too much resistance, I would have had to abort this review. As it stands, I’m risking my life for the review, because that is what the BMP Review Panel does;) Retro is very nice with not too much zing but enough zest to enhance the bouquet of flavors. The finish is long and satisfying between draws. Baking spices, cedar, citrus zest, floral, light Cocoa powder, and a little savory paprika. So far so good.” –Randy B. (randobush)
Second Third
Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Leather, wood, and a hint of natural sweetness” –Joseph S. (Bearded Bastard)
“Into the second third and this cigar hasn’t slowed down at all. The chocolate has moved more into the background, earth and an oaky wood flavor have come out with a slight campfire taste. The pepper is still very prominent along with the occasional hint of what seems to be a cinnamon scent. ” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Final Third
Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“This blend is still full-bodied kicking into the final third. A very heavy and spicy blend still but I am picking up the occasional floral note which feels very out of place. This has been a very heavy smoke but I can smoke it to the nub with
minimal harshness building for how full it has been.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“Oh man, the retro is just so nice! In the final third here, I am pleasantly surprised that I’ve enjoyed this cigar so well.
In the first third (which was good) I thought the flavors may stay about the same, or lose something, but it got better and better. Subtle but noticeable transition throughout, and the savory now with leather) overtakes slightly the other flavors of creamy baking spice, cedar, and citrus zest.” –Randy B. (randobush)
Overall Impressions
Draw: 87
“The draw was very tight, though I was not surprised due to his heavy it felt. A bit of poking through the top inch greatly improved the draw to a point where I was happy.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Burn: 97
“Burn was nice and even and no touch-ups were needed.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
Construction: 92
“Perfect tight ash that held for a couple of inches and fell easily with a slight tap on the ashtray. No cracking or splits while smoking. Overall a solid construction job.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 93
“The smoke was a very woody cedar and salty flavor with retrohale have strong black pepper flavors. The tight draw and the unraveling of the wrapper was not pleasant and took away from the smoking experience ” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)
“Great combo of flavors, no construction or burn issues, would be great with strong black coffee” –Joseph S. (Bearded Bastard)
“This blend was perfect for my palate. A flavor explosion from the first light with chocolate and leather. Pepper shone through from the first puff until the last and became even stronger when retrohaling. Notes of cinnamon, oak, and an odd floral end gave just enough a transition to keep things interesting. If you enjoy a full-bodied pepper bomb as I do, you are going to love this cigar.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“For some reason, my gut told me that I would not have a good review experience, but on the contrary, this cigar was very enjoyable. Appearance, draw, burn, finish, construction, and flavors, we’re all in balance, reflecting a dandy cigar experience. Final note hint of cinnamon at the end on the front of the tongue that just meshed in well the other aforementioned flavors of savory paprika/light cayenne, cedar, citrus zest, leather, and creamy baking spice.” –Randy B. (randobush)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 73
| Reviewer | Appear. | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr. | Overall Experience |
| Chad M. | 85 | 87 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 88 | 85 | 85 |
| Joseph S. | 88 | 85 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 95 | 90 | 90 |
| Lauren S. | 95 | 90 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 87 | 97 | 97 | 95 |
| Randy B. | 92 | 87 | 92 | 95 | 95 | 97 | 97 | 95 | 95 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.