Reposado 96
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Reposado 96 by AJ Fernandez
Soooo after a devil site purchase, 2 weeks rest and letting it sit out for 3-4 hours outside I decided to torch up a Reposado Habano. Made by AJ Fernandez (Diesel, Man O’ War, Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet, La Harencia Oscuro Fuerte, 5 Vegas Triple A and many others) these come in three wrappers Habano, Maduro and a Connecticut. I heard the Habano was the stand out so I that’s what I bid on. These are one of those blends that are “flying under the radar” but still have great reviews so I wanted to see if they stood up to the limited reviews that were all positive. Do they? Read on.
The Reposado comes in only one size the Salomon 7x58, which is a Figurado that’s essentially a torpedo with a nipple at the lighting end. Construction was fantastic as with almost all the AJF stuff and was solid with a nice easy draw, probably a little easy for some but perfect for me. The wrapper was your typical habano color with only small veins on it.
I don’t often smoke salomon’s so I wasn’t sure actually which end to light but was reasonably sure it was the nipple end.
Any way at first lighting I noticed with in the first 10 puffs, cream, leather, tea, and licorice with a touch of spice which essentially faded to a very solid creamy earthy leather. Ash was fairly solid and this produces A LOT of smoke. Body and flavor were on the medium full to full end and I wouldn’t recommend this for a beginner. After about a ¼ through I noticed a nice sweetness with the dominant leathery earth which was pretty much the rest of the cigar with a pleasant after taste with the occasional mild spice added in. Flavors did intensify a bit toward the end and be careful not to draw frequently.
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I paired this with a local brew-pub brew; Brown’s Pale Ale which I fear was a small mistake as I find the hoppy beers can mask some of the more delicate flavor traits. Nonetheless the Reposado stood up well.
It had NO problem with staying lit and never needed a touch up nor did it ever need to be re-lit . Even after sitting for 3-4 minutes it still stayed lit. I purged this fairly large cigar about 5 times not because it was needed but just on GP.
So did this cigar hold up? Absolutely! It was most certainly a fantastically satisfying cigar that was 2 hours of pure smoking pleasure. One thought comes to mind again and again is how does this guy (AJ) produce cigars that are so well built, that have great flavors and complexity, for such a small price?
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