Vegas Robaina Don Alejandro Vintage 2006
A great cigar named after a great man!
As this new Grauer Journal is dedicated to the Vegas Robaina brand, we naturally chose to taste one of, if not The most emblematic vitola of the brand: the Don Alejandro in Vintage 2006.
Bearing the first name of the brand's founder, the Don Alejandro entered regular production at the brand's inception in 1997 and was unfortunately discontinued in 2017.
In the meantime, the vitola has been used in each of the brand's special productions: 5 Aniversario Humidor, 83 Birthday Humidor, Vegas Robaina Subasta Humidor of 2011 and the Siglo XXI Millennium Humidor. As a reminder, the Siglo XXI Millennium Humidor is a humidor, produced in only 21 pieces, commemorating the change of the millennium. Inside, there are twenty marks distributed in twenty drawers, with individual boxes for each vitola.
Majestic in its proportions, the Don Alejandro is a Prominentes measuring 194 mm in length with a cepo of 49 and remains the largest vitola produced by the brand to date.
The cape has very slight ribs which we believe simply underline its perfect measurements. The Don Alejandro is a very beautiful cigar! To the touch, it is both firm and delicate but above all homogeneous in its filling.
It is with a hint of apprehension that we are about to light it up because previous tastings of the same cigar, but much younger, had left us with the strong impression of a tannic, almost rough cigar!
Let's remember that one of the characteristics of the brand's blend is to remain faithful to the age-old taste of traditional Havana and has not been adapted to seduce new aficionados.
It was thought at the time that Vegas Robaina cigars, because of their character when freshly rolled, had enormous ageing potential and might need twenty years to give the best of what they have to offer...
Alejandro Robaina was himself convinced of this, he had confided to us during a meeting: "there is no doubt that if you keep your box for 6 months or a year, the cigars will be finer, it is one of the characteristics of Cuban cigars: they all improve with age."
Let's check it out by lighting up this vintage Don Alejandro, 15 years old, with a simple cup of coffee.
From the first puffs, it reveals a pleasant toasted tobacco flavour, accompanied by subtle peppery notes. As the cigar burns, new flavours enter the scene: cocoa, woody and sweet cream. Some coffee and roasted nut notes are present but in the background. Incredible deliciousness and fantastic balance.
The perfect draw takes us to the divine, with a truly surprising sweetness. The rough side of the cigar seems to have disappeared and the flavours have become wonderfully rounded. The chocolate takes over here. We are impressed by the way the flavours overlap and develop over the course of the tasting. The years seem to have really mellowed the Don Alejandro but more importantly made it more complex.
The flavours have become slightly sweeter and the soft creaminess moves towards a lovely cappuccino profile that increases in intensity. A few puffs later, frank notes of dark chocolate make their appearance leaving little room for the hazelnut which attempts brief appearances here and there, what an incredible cigar!
The last part of the cigar confirms the presence of hazelnut aromas which enrich the cocoa and cream as if to offer us a greedy dessert at the end of the meal.
A hint of harshness finally appeared at the very end, but only in a reasonable way, as if to remind us that we were finally in the presence of a true Vegas Robaina!
The Don Alejandro is a great cigar, named after a great man in the Cuban tobacco world. A man so brilliant and appreciated that Habanos decided to dedicate a brand to him and a cigar to his first name. The "Godfather of Cuban tobacco" having sadly passed away in 2010, at the age of 91, tasting a Don Alejandro will allow us to pay tribute to him. A tribute of about two hours, particularly appropriate as it reflects the character of this man, full-bodied but above all terribly harmonious and generous.
VEGAS ROBAINA Don Alejandro - Vintage 2006 - Box of 25
Vitola: Prominentes (49 x 194 mm)
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