Vitola: Robusto OSC- 5” x 54 ring gauge
- SRP $5.40
- Samples provided by Forged Cigar Company
Background
It’s once again to play…is it General or is it Forged?
Earlier this year, Scandinavian Tobacco Company split their extensive catalog of cigars between the very familiar General Cigar Company and a new distribution channel, Forged Cigar Company. One of the items that landed under the Forged banner was El Rey del Mundo, a cigar that has been made for 20-plus years, but has previously only been available through JR Cigars and Santa Clara Wholesale. This new arrangement promises to bring the brand a much wider distribution footprint across the United States.
El Rey del Mundo is made in the HATSA factory in Danli, Honduras, and is available in 6 vitolas. The blend uses Honduran filler and binder, along with a choice of a Natural Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper or Maduro Connecticut Broadleaf…which is what Forged sent me to review.
I have smoked 3 or 4 of these before settling in with this review sample. All of them were provided by Forged Cigar Company…answering the question posed above.
Note: Just to clarify, in case anyone gets their feathers ruffled…I am in support of the move STG made by splitting the catalog between two distribution companies. It provides the opportunity to have better support for a wider variety of lines, rather than have some lines inevitably get overlooked when a General rep shows up at a shop talking about 15 or 20 brand names. That said, in the early going it has been confusing keeping everything straight and I find that mildly amusing.
Prelight
The cigar is wrapped in tissue paper, over the top of which the band is applied. This makes it very difficult to remove the tissue and retain the band. I did so for purposes of photography, but I did not do so on any previous samples…and I don’t expect I’d ever do so again. The band uses what I consider to be the “traditional Cuban band” look of red, white, and gold foil in liberal usage, then adds some orange background in the center of the band that makes the red type a little hard to read. Still, it’s a very traditional look and feel.
the wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate brown with plenty of veiny bumpiness along the length of it, a nice amount of oiliness, and an aroma of earth and leather. The foot smelled of earth, natural tobacco, hay, and cedar.
After clipping the head, I got an excellent draw that had notes of cedar, citrus, hay, and earth.
Flavor
I fired up El Rey del Mundo and got earth and anise and leather right off the bat, with notes of cedar and black pepper backing them up, and a touch of sweet citrus on the finish. The nose was nutty with loads of red pepper flake. In the first third, I noted it was medium-plus in body with a punchy pepper note and a sweetness that increased as I smoked along.
The second third had increased sweetness, with more than a touch of chocolate in the mix. I also got a solid dose of anise, while the earth and leather notes took more of a back seat and supporting role.
In the last third, El Rey del Mundo had more pepper spice mixing with the semi-sweet chocolate notes. Earth was a solid presence throughout and I got some coffee bean notes as I got toward the end. Anise and leather tapered off.
Construction
I had a very good draw, straight burn line, and solid ash.
Value
This was a solid cigar flavor-wise for an excellent price.
Conclusions
I have a vague recollection of smoking an El Rey del Mundo 15 or more years ago and enjoying it. Turns out I still do. It was a very good bargain-priced cigar with a medium-to-full body and more complexity than a lot of cigars in this price range. It’s good to see them hitting a wide distribution channel. If you like General’s Punch Maduros, you may very well enjoy these as they share some profile notes…not surprising since I believe they’re made in the same factory. Definitely worth a 5-pack to have for those times when a less expensive cigar is in order, but you still want something with plenty of flavor.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
