La Sirena The Prince

[bolivar]

The Prince is an old school robusto size of 5x50. I’ve avoided this marquee because of the hideous band. I agree that this shouldn’t prohibit me from trying a cigar, but the thing just looks tacky.

What looks even worse are the incredibly large veins on the wrapper. Granted, it’s a Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrapper, which have a tendency to have large veins. This was the worst example I’ve ever seen. After seeing the wrapper, I wondered if the band was designed to cover up the atrocious wrapper.

The foot toasted easy and lit well. It burned cool with ample amounts of smoke. Ashing twice revealed a razor flat coal. The prelight draw was just a touch closed but opening just enough for me to consider the draw spot on. The smell and prelight taste was heavy with coco.

Once smoking, I was completely and utterly blown away by the flavors of this cigar. I can’t do any better than quoting part of the listing from CI, “The result is a rich, full-bodied smoke that’s layered with complexity. Notes of coffee, oak, pepper, and cocoa coat the palate before a slightly sweet finish.”

I was surprised to see that this was a Pepin creation. I find his blends to be heavy on black pepper with no complexity. This is without a doubt an exception to the rule.

This cigar has one of the ugliest bands and wrappers I’ve ever seen. That said, it is also the best legal cigar I’ve ever smoked in terms of flavor. If I were to give it a rating, I would give it a 94. Superb!

The Rocky Patel Burn Robusto has allot to live up to tomorrow.