Early 2014 I went to Nicaragua but spend a few days in Florida afterwards and in a cigar lounge in Miami I met Pete from Kings Cigars. Now I can’t recall the name of the shop, but it was a hangout for a lot of industry people as Barry Stein (Cigar Authority, but back then employed by Miami Cigar & Co), Juan Lopez (Gurkha) and a few reps from other companies were there on their night off too. And Pete handed me a few cigars to try and to see if I could convince my then employer to import the cigars to The Netherlands. And what better day to post this review than on kings day?

I smoked a few cigars but a few ended up lost in my huge stash of cigars. After losing my job I took some time to reorganize my walk-in humidor and put my complete stash in stogierate so I know what I have and can actually find the cigars in the humidor. And I started to pick cigars from one assorted box to review, once that one is empty I’ll go to the next and so on and on. Today I grabbed the Kings Cigars King of Kings Habano Cuadrado, a box pressed 6×64 and all I know about this cigar is that it’s made in Nicaragua with Nicaraguan filler and binder and a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and the Cuadrado is the only vitola with this blend.

When I take the cigar out of the cellophane I feel a smooth, almost silk, wrapper. The wrapper has a few thin veins and a medium dark color, like a cafe latte. The construction feels good, evenly packed. The ring is all printed, dark with gold and red, a golden crown over a crest and a banner with “king of kings”. The ring is not special though, it won’t really stand out in a humidor. The aroma is strong, its a mix of hay, straw, barnyard and fresh wood.

I punched the cigar since it’s so thick. The cold draw is on the loose side. The flavor of the cold draw is raw tobacco and hay with a spicy undertone. I lit the cigar with a soft flame but a jet flame would be more effective with a 64 ring gauge. I taste coffee, earthy flavors. After half an inch I taste a mild musty sweetness. It’s a Connecticut Shade mustiness but much milder. The aftertaste has a lingering pepper. Halfway I taste nutmeg, chili and honey. Before the final third I taste pepper and wood with a little honey.

The draw is too loose for my liking. But the smoke is plentiful yet medium thick. The ash is a bit coarse, light colored with dark smears. The ash is firm too. This medium bodied cigar is also medium flavored. The evolution is what I expect from a big ring cigar, not spectacular, not a lot of dynamic. The smoke time is an hour and thirty five minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? if there was a smaller version I would consider it but this is too much for me.

Score: 84

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