Brun del Ré Premium

Back in August, we provided a feature story on a company called Brun del Ré. This is a company based out of Costa Rica that has been around for over ten years.  The company is operated by General Manager Carlos Corazza.  They have been successful at building their presence outside the United States.  The company has recently set its sights on now trying to build its U.S. presence. Today we explore one of the lines by Brun del Ré called the Brun del Ré Premium.  This can definitely be classified as a cigar on the milder side in terms of strength and flavor. However for a milder cigar, this cigar does all of the right things – and delivers an excellent cigar experience.

There are actually two cigar blends in the Brun del Ré Premium line.  One is the actually Brun del Ré Premium core offering and the other is called the Brun del Ré Premium Special Edition.  These are actually two separate and very different blends.  In this assessment we are going to focus on the Brun del Ré Premium core offering.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Brun del Ré Premium and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

While Brun del Ré cigars are made in Costa Rica and incorporate Costa Rican tobacco, the Brun del Ré Premium does not use Costa Rican tobacco.

Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The Brun del Ré Premium is available in five frontmarks.

Churchill:  7 x 48
Torpedo: 6 x 54
Corona: 6 x 44
Perfecto: 5 1/2 x 50
Robusto: 5 x 50

Appearance

For this cigar experience, I smoked the Brun del Ré Premium Churchill vitola. The Brun del Ré Premium Churchill’s Connecticut wrapper is a light brown color.  There is a little bit of oil on the surface.  There are some visible veins, but despite the light colored wrapper the wrapper seams are well hidden.

The band features an olive, gold, and white color scheme.  There is a gold shield on the front of the band that rests on an olive field.  The text "Premium" sits below the shield in white cursive font.  The olive field sits on a white background.  To the left and right of the field is the text "Hecho a Mano Costa Rica" in olive cursive font.  At the bottom of the band is an olive colored ribbon with the text "Brun del Ré" in white cursive font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to my smoking experience of the Brun del Ré Premium Churchill, I went with a straight cut. Once the cap was removed I proceeded with the pre-light draw ritual.  The dry draw notes were definitely mild.  I picked up some cream notes.  There was some subtle sweetness and spice that I really had trouble drawing an analogy to.  Overall while the pre-light draw was mild, it was satisfactory.  At this point, I was ready to light up my Brun del Ré Premium Churchill and see what the overall experience would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Brun del Ré Premium had notes of wood, cream, and a light pepper.  This was joined by some light citrus notes that provided some sweetness.  The wood, cream, and citrus moved to the forefront while the pepper went to the background.  There was some light spice on the retro-hale that had more of an herbal spice quality.

As the Brun del Ré Premium moved through the first third, the citrus and cream notes were primary.  By the end of the first third, the wood notes had pretty much dissipated. The citrus notes had a bit of a lingering effect on the after-draw.  The pepper remained in the background.

The flavor profile remained similar in the second third, but now the pepper spice was took on the herbal spice qualities that were present on the retro-hale.

Toward the latter part of the second third, some grass notes surfaced and joined the cream in the forefront.  The citrus notes receded to the background. While the herbal spice now moved into the forefront, the Brun del Ré Premium never became overly spicy.  This is the way the flavor profile held until the end.  There were no harsh notes at the end. The resulting nub was cool in temperature, but slightly soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

The Brun del Ré Premium Churchill was a very well-constructed cigar and this was reflected in the burn and draw.  This burn was truly "set it and forget it".  I found it amazing that for a Churchill vitola that it required so few touch-ups.  The burn line remained straight from start to finish.  The resulting ash was tight with a salt and pepper color.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

The draw was outstanding from start to finish.  This made the Brun del Ré Premium a very enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

I mentioned at the start of this assessment that this was a mild cigar.  From a strength perspective, this cigar isn’t going to have much pop.  It definitely was one of the milder cigars I’ve had in terms of strength. From a depth of flavors, the Brun del Ré Premium also starts out mild-bodied – namely the flavors are going to be subtle.  By the second third, the flavors develop a little more weight and move into the mild to medium-bodied range.  Overall, I found the Brun del Ré Premium to be a cigar where it has an edge of body over strength.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is an excellent offering by Brun del Ré.  It is milder, but it also was not a cookie cutter cigar in terms of being a milder cigar.  While much of the flavors are subtle, there is some nice complexity going on within the flavor profile.  In terms of being positioned as a "morning smoke", there is no doubt that the Brun del Ré Premium fits the bill.  This is not going to be a cigar for someone who prefers more strength and body.  However, for a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast seeking a milder smoke, this cigar does a great job.  For myself, this is a cigar that I can see myself keeping five or so in my humidor.  It definitely is a cigar I would reach for if I want something milder.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Mild
Body: Mild (1st Third), Mild to Medium (Remainder)
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.0 – The Fiver
Score: 90

References

Source: Samples provided by Manufacturer (*)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 68, Episode 76
Stogie Feed: Brun del Ré Premium Churchill, Brun Del Re Premium Perfecto

* Some cigars for this assessment was provided by a representative of Brun del Ré Cigars. The samples were received in order to provide feedback.  Cigar Coop is appreciative for the samples, but in no way does this influence this write-up.