Aladino 85 Aniversario Reserva Toro (6×52)

Julio Eiroa is 87 years old. He has been growing tobacco since before most of the cigar industry’s current players were born. He built Camacho into a powerhouse, sold it to Davidoff, started JRE Tobacco from scratch at an age when most people are done starting things, and then spent years working on a cigar specifically built around Pinareño seed, one of the rarest and most difficult Cuban varieties in existence. The project started as an 80th birthday cigar. It took longer than expected because Julio refused to release it until it was right. He turned 87 before it was. The Pinareño seed was brought to Honduras by Tino Agurdin in 1960 and has been largely abandoned by the industry ever since because it produces small yields and is devastatingly susceptible to disease. Julio grew it anyway.

The result in this 6×52 Toro is a 100% Honduran Pinareño puro delivering cedar, cinnamon, chestnuts, stone fruit, and a floral note on the retrohale that no other seed in the JRE portfolio produces. Mild to medium in body, silky in construction, and scored 93 points with a #25 Cigar of 2025 nod from Cigars International. Four boxes per vitola per month. Twenty to a box in a yellow box featuring Julio’s 1961 Buick. When it is available, buy it without hesitating.