Cigar: Warped La Colmena Reina
Size: Belicoso, 6.0"x48
MSRP: $16.50
Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Deflorada
Origin: USA



Prelight: This cigar is an exclusive to Maxamar Ultimate Cigar and its online store, Small Batch Cigar (who is a great vender, and a friend of Cigar Bum). This cigar is so boutique, it doesn’t even come with a band. Which, to be honest, I am totally okay with. The cigar feels extremely well made with no visible seams, no soft spots, and a velvety smooth wrapper you just want to curl up next to in bed. The wrapper not only looks good, it smells heavenly: sweet and woody with floral and barnyard notes, and just a dash of chocolate. The closed foot is neatly sealed and the cap is uniform. This truly is how a cigar should look. After a clip, it’s hard to judge how the draw will be with the closed foot, but the taste lives up to expectations as I get chocolate, nuts, earth and wood in the cold draw. Enough chit-chat, I need to light this up before drool shorts out my laptop.



1/3: The cigar toasts and lights easily with the closed foot, and in the first few puffs, a light pepper taste reminds me of the Nicaraguan fillers used, but it is fairly mild, probably due to them being mixed with some Dominican tobacco as well. There is a pleasant hay flavor and some woodiness in the profile also. Interestingly, there is no finish to the cigar; after I blow out the smoke, the flavor stops. There is a delectable room note to the smoke though. It’s sweet and chocolaty. However, I don’t pick up any of that through my taste buds. I soon notice a dustiness to the flavors, as well as a slight citrus taste.



2/3: Coming into the second third, the body of the cigar is on the light side of medium, but the finish is picking up a little, with a sweetness to it that is a little like vanilla mixed with leather. The mild pepper that was in the first third has faded and the hay and wood flavors increase, but the entirety of the profile is earthier, creating a lovely balance. At around the halfway mark, the cigar starts to become sour, and this grassy sourness increases as I reach the final third, backed by notes of leather.



3/3: The sourness of the grass has faded, but grass is still the dominant flavor for much of the final third, followed by leather. This earthy leather hangs in there though, and outlasts the grass at the nub, becoming the finishing flavor to this cigar.

Overall: This cigar is constructed excellently, with a razor sharp burn line, perfect draw, and beautiful ash that lasts an inch and a half or more. The flavors were excellent at the beginning (albeit subdued), but took a turn in the second half towards something less desirable. I am curious as to how these mature in the next six months to a year, but fear that any longer than that may turn them flat. For the price, one may find this cigar a bit underwhelming. Personally, I loved the first half of the cigar for what it was: mild yet complex, perfect for a summer afternoon. However, the second half lost my interest.