El Rey Del Mundo Tainos: ECA MAY 02

[Philc2001]

Cigar: El Rey Del Mundo Tainos

Code: ECA MAY 02

Format: Churchill, 6.9" x 47

Smoke date: 12/24/2016

The ERDM brand is not a brand I have a lot of experience with, but about 12 years ago  I got a fiver of Tainos in a trade.  For one reason or another I forgot about them, and every couple of years I stumble into them buried in a box at the bottom of my humidor.

As best as I can tell, the name Tainos originates from the Spanish explorers referring to the indigenous people they discovered inhabiting Cuba. In fact, the name; Cuba, is believed to originate from the Taino language; "cubao", which translates into "where fertile land is abundant". But don’t hold me to that.

Every time I've gotten around to smoking one of these Tainos I've never been disappointed, in fact each one has been outstanding and each better than the one before. With only two remaining, I've been keeping them for special occasions, such as this Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, I was never able to get my hands on any more Tainos. So, as I prepared to light this, the second last specimen of its kind in my possession, I was bursting with anticipation and high expectations. 

The girth and length of Tainos are on the edge of my limits, it's a big cigar and requires planning for a 2+ hour smoke. But knowing the rewards in store, I was adequately prepared.

The cigar feels evenly packed and expertly rolled. Cold draw gives a little resistance as I like it. The medium brown milk chocolate wrapper is smooth, leathery, and virtually seamless. Fire releases a wonderfully fragrant aroma, which is a big part of the delicious experience delivered by this cigar.  I found myself cupping the cigar as I drew to capture and inhale the aroma from the smoke trail. Truly intoxicating.

Tainos is loaded with Cuban twang, mild/medium bodied and bursting with flavor. It's not an extremely complex cigar, but the balance of flavors and aroma make it totally satisfying to my senses and my taste buds. If I could package this flavor and aroma into a bottle I would probably overdose on it because the profile is right in my sweet spot, evoking euphoria. I literally shut out everything around me and zoned in on this smoking experience, which this cigar demands.

The burn was perfect, no touch ups, and smoke volume was voluminous. The flavor has elements of floral tea with a fruity and vanilla sweetness, it reminds me of sweet chai tea.  The combination is perfectly balanced and absolutely wonderful.

From lighting to nub this Tainos was consistent, smooth and creamy throughout. I couldn't script a better experience. Without hesitation, I do declare this among the top 3 best smoking experiences of 2016 for me. In fact, by a slight edge I'm rating this #1, a perfect 10 on my personal scale. That puts it a notch above the Lusitanias I had a few months ago, which ironically was from the same year with the same factory code (coincidence? I think not!). 

If I could find Tainos bearing this box code, or even this relative manufacture date, I would load up the truck. This was an incredible Christmas treat. 

Best of the season to you all my friends.

[RijkdeGooier]

Wonderful cigar review of a wonderful cigar?

[TheMonk]

Nice job, well done!

[Mattb82]

Nice review! 

[Smallclub]

22 hours ago, Philc2001 said:

That puts it a notch above the Lusitanias I had a few months ago, which ironically was from the same year with the same factory code (coincidence? I think not!). 

If I could find Tainos bearing this box code,

ECA was the code for the Upmann (José Marti) factory. I have had plenty of fabulous Upmann's with this code and year (pc, super coronas, grand coronas) and two great boxes of Partagas coronas. One could think that a La Corona code would be preferable for a 2002 Tainos or a Partagas code for anything Partagas in 2002, but, yes, I believe ECA 2002 was a great box code for almost anything…

[ChanceSchmerr]

2 hours ago, Smallclub said:

ECA was the code for the Upmann (José Marti) factory. I have had plenty of fabulous Upmann's with this code and year (pc, super coronas, grand coronas) and two great boxes of Partagas coronas. One could think that a La Corona code would be preferable for a 2002 Tainos or a Partagas code for anything Partagas in 2002, but, yes, I believe ECA 2002 was a great box code for almost anything…

I have some Partagas Coronas purchased from the Dunhill shop in London in 2014 that were ECA '02. Looking forward to them even  more now!

[westg]

Great review  Thanks

[JohnS]

On ‎27‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 6:41 PM, RijkdeGooier said:

Wonderful cigar review of a wonderful cigar?

Summed up my feelings precisely!

[rhcolbert]

I've hunted these since I first dabbled into Cubans back in 2005.  Alas, no luck. Glad they are as good as I woulda suspected.