Jose Seijas Signature Series
Thursday, August 18th, 2011Thanks to Bonita Smoke Shop for gifting this to me. This cigar was off of my radar probably because of the price. The Jose Seijas is a brand of Altadis, and was one of the top ten cigars of 2006 by Cigar Aficionado. I probably would have never tried this cigar had it not been gifted. As always, I paired with water. Let’s see how the Jose Seijas Signature Series treated me.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Peruvian, Dominican, Nicaraguan
Size: Perfecto 6 1/2 x 48
Price: $15.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper had small veins, no real flaws, and a nice velvety smooth appearance. When sniffing the wrapper and foot, I could only pick up a rich natural tobacco. The cigar was consistently packed, and bounced back when squeezed. Due to the perfecto head, the pre-light draw was very stiff. I could detect sweet, almost fruity flavor.
The ash held for about 1.5 inches, and the burn required one minor correction.
Flavor:
The first few puffs of the first third were woody. Once I got past the small perfecto opening at the foot, the draw opened up nicely, and the flavors developed. Woodiness was still the main flavor with an earthy aftertaste. There was an easy peppery spice when passing smoke through the nose. Towards the end of this third, the spice had subtle sweet notes.
The peppery spice calmed down in the second third. It became smooth with sweet notes. The core flavor was still wood with some coffee mixed in with it. The smoke feel thickened and became somewhat creamy. The earthy aftertaste went away, for the most part, and was replaced with a creamy sweetness. As I made it past the halfway point, the smoke became even more smoother and creamier. The sweetness increased too, but I couldn’t pin a flavor to it.
The last third: At times the flavor profile was much like the first third. Other draws were creamy and sweet. The sweet spice left a cinnamon like tingle in the nose and on the lips. The woody flavor with subtle coffee notes remained the staple of the flavor profile.
Conclusion:
This was a nice medium to upper medium bodied cigar. The flavor profile was enjoyable and complex enough to keep me interest. Construction was good as well. For a cigar of this price, I would expect more of a WOW factor. This cigar really didn’t have that. As I often say – Price aside, this was a good cigar. But had I shelled out $15.00, I would be less enthusiastic. The bottom line is, if you have $15.00 burning a hole in your pocket, this cigar is worth a try.