Trinidad Reyes Prelight
Today Trinidad is one of Cuba’s most well known marcas, but it actually started off as a well kept secret. Trinidad’s roots go back to 1969 where they were made in secret side by side with Cohiba. They were originally meant as gifts for diplomats, and other friends of the Cuban government. The word eventually got out and Trinidad became publicly available in 1998 with only one vitola, the legendary Fundadores.
The Reyes is the smallest vitola offered by Trinidad, a petit corona at 4 3/8″in” by 40. Being a Cuban puro the wrapper, binder, and filler leaves are a proprietary blend made from Cuban tobacco. The Reyes was originally released in 2004.
This specific example was pulled from a 12 count box with an ESM Feb 2023 code. It was dry boxed for 24 hours before being pulled for this review. The wrapper leaf has a dark latte color, and looks very even with some minimal veins, and an oily sheen. The pigtail cap is surprisingly shallow. The aromas are of sweet natural tobacco, and some salted caramel syrup. A punch cut shows a slightly snug draw with a cold draw that reminds me of wet leaves. I carefully lit this one with a soft flame butane zippo.
Trinidad Reyes First Third
We’re starting off with medium smoke output. The first note I’m picking up on is sweet tea biscuits. The notes on the palate are latte, oak, and those sweet tea biscuits. The retrohale is showing some more espresso notes, and some salted caramel. There’s almost no perceptible spice on the retrohale. The overall profile here is very reminiscent of a caramel latte, and there’s a backbone of those tea biscuits, and a bit of cheerios. The burn started off a bit wobbly, but it seems to be correcting. Ash and construction seem great otherwise. This cigar was heating up pretty fast, so I had to be sure not to draw too often. There’s a short finish of espresso.
Trinidad Reyes Second Third
More of the same flavors in the second third. Medium roast coffee, vanilla, oak, and tea biscuits on the palate. The retrohale is showing latte, salted caramel, and a floral white tea note. The sweet caramel, and vanilla notes are slowly ramping up here. The caramel latte is still the main flavor with secondary notes of tea biscuits, and floral tea. Smoke output remains medium. The ash is a bit dark and toothy, but the burn line corrected, and it seems to be burning fine. There is a medium finish of espresso.
Trinidad Reyes Final Third
The final third is going as expected given the tones so far. I’m getting medium roast coffee, vanilla, toasted oak, and tea biscuits on the palate. Caramel latte, vanilla syrup, and floral tea on the retrohale. There’s a slow and steady ramp up on the intensity of flavor especially the sweet caramel notes and the toasty flavors. Smoke output remains at medium. There’s a medium finish of espresso and burnt sugar. Burn line is a bit wobbly but is still smoking fine. The flavors are very linear past the band. I put this one down with about an inch left.
Trinidad Reyes Conclusions
In the past few years Habanos has been propping up Trinidad as one of their “luxury” brands. This came with some significant price increases to put Trinidad more on par, or at least a notch or two below Cohiba. The flavor profile was tasty, and the burn was fine, but this cigar tastes very much like it was blended to be a fun smoke with coffee in the morning, not a special occasion smoke. The caramel latte notes were tasty, but I found that the Quai d’Orsay No. 54 has a similar tone while being more complex, and something more worthy of the price tag. Pricing on the Reyes is a bit all over the place, going as low as $18USD all the way to $37USD per cigar depending on the source. So while the Reyes might be a good cigar, its price point forces it to be compared to some of the all time greats. I have a box I purchased last year for what I thought was a reasonable price, and I’ll try one every once in a while to see how they age, but I don’t see myself going back to the Reyes once I’m out.
