Factory: Tabacalera El Aladino – Danli, Honduras
Size: 5″ x 50 Robusto
Strength: Full
Wrapper/Binder/Filler: High-priming Honduran Corojo
First, give me the back story. . .
The Corojo tobaccos grown on the Eiroa family’s estate farms in Honduras’ Jamastran Valley are simply in a class by themselves. If you doubt me, the EIROA Dark selection might be just enough to persuade you. According to the company, the EIROA Dark is so-named due to its all high-priming Corojo leaf blend. We’re talking a lot of ligeros here. The result is a cigar with a truckload of body and strength, yet remarkably smooth. This is due in part to the two to three years of aging the tobaccos for Dark undergo. Most of the Corojo tobaccos used in the CLE and EIROA blends are aged four to five years, giving them a little more time to mature. Anyone who is already familiar with CLE’s other blends will notice an immediate difference.
The EIROA Dark selection is available in three sizes, each named for its ring gauge and length, and presented in 20-count boxes: 50×5 (5″x 50 Robusto), 54×6 (6″x 54 Toro), and 60×6 (6″ x 60 Gordo).
Let’s talk construction. How well is it made?
Excellently. The rolling is seamless and firm with no soft spots. The cap was slightly lopsided, but I don’t view such details as detrimental, since the cut is always straight. Besides, for this review, I was inclined to go with a V-cut, which is not my usual choice, but more on that next. . .
So, how does it smoke?
Beautifully. The cigar produces enough dense smoke to set-off the fire sprinklers in a gymnasium. The smoke is also extremely smooth; yet, due to its sheer volume, works its way up into the nose for a spicy ZAP to the olfactories. No burn issues, either. The resulting ashes refused to buckle, producing only two dark grey ashes, each almost two inches in length. Now, about that V-cut. . .
After getting a mostly peppery smoke for the first third, I peeled back the cap to expose more tobacco at the head. As I noted in the video, I’m not sure it was the cigar itself at that point, or due to opening the cap, but after doing so, the cigar just exploded with flavor.
What are the primary flavor notes?
Opening with a profusion of earth and black pepper, once the cigar hit just shy of its midpoint, sweet spice, dark chocolate, and espresso poured-in. This took the cigar to an entirely new dimension and turned my frown upside down.
So, is it complex?
I would say so. The EIROA Dark begins with a salvo of black pepper, which I feared might make it a one note song. At the midsection, the cigar opens up for a major transition offering a blast of sweet, delicious spice. Then, additional flavors jumped-in including notes of dark chocolate, and espresso, but the pepper maintained its role as the lead character.
What drinks can I pair with it?
If you’re looking for a counterbalance to the peppery properties of the Dark Robusto, I would go with a sweeter whiskey like Gentleman’s Jack, or rums like Appleton Estate or Diplomático; even a good vintage Port might suffice. On the coffee side, cafecíto, or if you prefer something less sweet, espresso.
(For more cigar pairing ideas, see our Cigar Pairing Guide.)
Tell me who this cigar is for.
Those with a decent number of notches on their gun belt. More specifically, cigar smokers who already enjoy bold, spicy cigars made with high-priming blends. New cigar smokers may find the Dark a little too dark for them, but in spite of its fullness, the cigar was far from heady. I’d add that for cigar smokers who smoke a lot of full-bodied Nicaraguan cigars, they’ll find the all-Honduran leaf EIROA Dark very impressive by comparison.
Bottom line: Is it humidor worthy?
For sure, especially if you’re the type of cigar smoker I described above, or you have developed a taste for Honduran tobaccos. As to the latter, this cigar offers some of the best, making it, in many ways, a smoke of stellar proportions.
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Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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