Don Kiki Limited Reserve Brown Label Review

[Tristan]

Don Kiki Limited Reserve – Brown Label

Size: Toro – 6 X 52

Pre-Light Aroma – WOW! This cigar smells amazing; rich and dark, worderfull!

Pre-light Draw – So nice! Perfecto

Drink: French pressed Simatran coffee

Environment: On the deck finishing up some work.

First Impression – WOW! What a super rich taste with medium body. Mild spice at the end of the palatte; Super rich nigaraguan and coffee flavor. Great start to this cigar.

First 1/3: Same great flavors continue!

Second 1/3: The burn is pretty inconsistent; major corrections needed! Still great flavor! The struggle continues with keeping and even burn.

Final Comments: This is a good cigar. I had one about 2 months ago that was absolutely amazing and was exceptional complex. This one didn't live up, but for $4 from the local B&M I will definetly be buying more!

[cigar_joel]

For the price, these arn't to bad. Glad you enjoyed. Nice review.

[Tristan]

Here is a review I wrote for the same type of cigar in May

Cigar Maker: Don Kiki
Model: Limited Reserve
Wrapper: Maduro; rough, veiny
Size: 6X52

Construction: Med-High Quality

1st draw: medium, SMOOTH, muted spice, Nicaraguan flavors! Perfect draw!

Light: Torched, great burn

First Impression:
Great fruit tones; chocolaty, almost salty, earth peanut tones. So complex!

1st third:
Rich and nutty now!

so smooth and complex still; room aroma is wonderful

This cigar has a base flavor I can't describe, like a sweet fruity macademia nut taste

sweetness is amplifying now still in the first-third of the cigar

EFFORTLESS DRAW

Huge correction at the end of the first third

2nd third:

Nice and peppery hovering over medium; keeping my palette excited

so smooth, the only draw back of this cigar is the burn so far

the wrapper is burning very uneven

taste is getting darker at bottom of second third

flavor continues in 2nd third

last third:

good; taste is getting a little tarry and slightly bitter in top of 5/6

BLOWOUT!

now rich again; fruity, rich, medium bodied finish


Final Comments:

What a cigar, it's one of the best new stogies I've tried in a while! Maybe it's time to buy a box!

Rating 7.5/10

[mhillsing23]

Thanks for the review and info. The only DK that I have tried was the Green Label, and I wasn't too impressed. I have heard good things about the Brown Label though. I will give them a shot if I ever see a single, or fiver that is available.

[Baric]

Good reviews-must say that Don Kikis have constituted my go to cigars for a long time but ive always been disappointed in the chemical flavours and [like you mentioned] poor burn and often draw problems. However, ive always tried the silly little botella figurados from their samplers-toro sounds much better. thanks for the reviews and avoid those botella figs if you want to keep your fondness of DK Browns!

[donp]

Tristan:
Wow! It seems as if you and I have been walking the same cigar path
The Don Kiki Browns were one of the first boxes I purchased about a year ago. I got the torpedo size and liked them a lot. I still have about 3 of them left. They are strong (IMO) and well balanced, and made of damned good tobacco. I am a big fan of Don Kiki and his products, not to mention the Cuban Crafters customer service.
I would recommend you also try the Vegas de Tabacalera Esteli; or the Cuban Crafters Cabinet Selection, the JL Salazar or, the La Carolina. All are very good smokes and very different.

[Baric]

Donp gives good advice. i have quite a bit of experience with CC cigars as they are one of the few good retailers who will hassle free ship to the UK. La Carolina are quite fruity and medium bodied, Salazar [go for Chruchills in this brand] are full bodied and very complex-constant undertones of sweetness/fruit but other flavours changing throughout. Vegas TE are good standard cigars, where you dont want to spend loads but still want a good cigar.

[Tristan]

Thanks for the advice fellas! I'm going to buy a box of the brown labels for sure and check out the other varieties you mentioned!

DonP; it's a good path to walk! ~

[canes]

Wow good review.
The only experience I've had with Don Kiki was the green label taped to the humidor box I ordered from Cuban Crafters (great purchase btw). I actually ripped it off the box, let it sit for about 30 min (after sitting for probably a couple hours on my porch in 95 degree heat), and lit it up. Expecting the worst I was actually suprised by the quality (being a newbie albiet, im now 1 month removed ) it burned very evenly, tasted decent imo, and was mild to medium in strength. I'll have to try another someday.

[Baric]

youre spot on canes-as a newbie these were my basic cigar i smoked the most of. however i got fed up with the inconsistent quality-out of a bundle of 15, only half were good-the rest suffered from poor burns, bad rolls, chemical flavours. however, the rest were fine so...

[Jeff]

I think the Don Kiki line is very underrated. They are great everyday smokes, and if you catch a bundle on sale they can be very inexpensive.

I havn't tried any of the other Cuban Crafters line, but am interested as I've heard good things about the Salazar, La Carolina, and Esteli.

[donp]

Originally Posted by Jeff

I think the Don Kiki line is very underrated. They are great everyday smokes, and if you catch a bundle on sale they can be very inexpensive.

I havn't tried any of the other Cuban Crafters line, but am interested as I've heard good things about the Salazar, La Carolina, and Esteli.

Jeff:
I think they are too, and probably because they don't seem to go all out advertising (that I have seen). But, Don Kiki makes some damned fine cigars at very reasonable prices too. I researched the ratings of many of their brands and found several of their brands get high rankings in Smoke magazine and CA. I also recommend the Cuban Crafters Cabinet selection too; very, very nice