The Meerapfel family is famous for being the saviors (and now promoters) of tobacco from Cameroon. Indeed, Cameroonian wrappers have become something of a trend, and one man that was determined to take advantage of that trend was JRE Tobacco’s Julio R. Eiroa.
In the early 2000s, Eiroa purchased Cameroonian tobacco leaves from the Meerapfels. But, as a farmer at heart, he always wondered if he might be able to grow these leaves better himself — not in Cameroon, but in Honduras, where Eiroa’s farms were situated in the country’s Jamastran Valley.
In 2020 — at the age of 82 — Eiroa began selling JRE’s Aladino Cameroon line of cigars, featuring wrappers made from JRE’s own Cameroon-seed tobacco that Eiroa had spent more than the last decade perfecting. It had taken so long because Eiroa — ever the perfectionist — kept being disappointed by the results of what his seeds had grown. His plants’ leaves were clean and reddish in appearance, as opposed to the rough, mottled, and toothy look of traditional Cameroon tobacco leaves that most smokers are accustomed to.
However, it was later determined that this wasn’t a fault of where Eiroa was growing his crop but instead was a byproduct of the intense care and dedication that he was putting into his plants. Very simply, this much nurturing was unknown to cultivators of Cameroonian leaf — even in Cameroon!
As possible proof of this, when smoked, Eiroa’s Cameroon-seed leaves produce a flavor that’s equal or superior to “genuine” Cameroon tobacco.
This vitola of the Aladino Cameroon line, the Super Toro, is a medium-strength smoke that uses the aforementioned Cameroon-seed wrappers as well as JRE’s “Authentic Corojo”-seed binders and fillers to create a unique puro Honduran cigar.
Notes of cedar, vanilla, caramel, almonds, peanuts, hazelnut, licorice, and mint can be found among this stick’s relatively sweet flavors, with a hint of pepper and oak on the finish.
Available in boxes of 24, the Aladino Cameroon Super Toro surpasses expectations for what a Cameroon-seed cigar can be. Pick up a box today, and acquire one of JRE’s very best smokes to date.