Regius Exclusivo Red Label USA

Purchased: 2 X Robusto
Store: Tobacco
Price: $10.95 ea
Buy again? Yes.
Box worthy? Yes.

tldr;

At a ring gauge of 4 1/2 X 52, my first thought that this was pretty short for a robusto, which are normally 5 inches. But this was by no means a quick smoke, taking me over an hour to smoke each stick that I bought. This has the classic taste profile of a Nicaraguan puro – that’s my jam! Notes of cedar and oak, on a creamy foundation of nuts and cocoa and moderate spice. This is a stick that I will be getting again and again.

After my experience with the Regius Sun Grown, I knew I had to get more of those and also try some other blends from Regius. So along with my order of Sun Grown, I got a couple of Exclusivo USA Red Label sticks. I saw that it was a nic puro and I love single-country origin smokes!

This one doesn’t disappoint at all. As I mentioned it has the classic flavor profile of a nic puro and doesn’t stray from that. For some who are looking for an ever-changing profile, they may not like this stick. But for me, I’m fine for what it brings to the table.

The first third is mostly cedar and nuts and a creamy mouthfeel. The smoke starts out medium strength and medium body and stays there, only intensifying in the final third.

As I go through the smoke, while the basic profile doesn’t change, things get added to it. There’s a citrus element on the back half first third, along with a prune-like quality to the smoke. It’s not sweet.

Once the second third starts, the cream gives way to a savory meat quality and amazingly enough, a slight saltiness. The wood transforms to a slightly tannic oak with a woodsy finish.

At the halfway point, the burn slows the fuck down! Being a relatively short stick, it only took me about 25 minutes to get to the halfway point. It was this way with my first stick. When I smoked my first one a few days ago, though the draw was comfortably snug, I was amazed at the burn rate. And mind you, I wasn’t powering through the stick. But once I got halfway through the stick, the burn totally slowed down.

And this is where the magic with this stick started happening. Up until this point, there was no spice at all. Then suddenly, red pepper spice came out of nowhere. It’s not strong, but I can feel it on my lips and my tongue. And interesting thing happened as well with both sticks. As soon as I got to the final third, the cigar went out. Poof! It was going fine, then I let it sit for under a couple of minutes and it completely went out. But once I relit it, it went back to producing thick, white clouds of smoke again. Go figure.

The sweet spot of this stick is the final third. Everything comes together by this time. It’s not a flavor bomb, but it’s so enjoyable that I will definitely keep some or several these on hand in the future.