For our final review for the Seleccion de Marcas, I’m reviewing the Atabey Ritos.  This is the largest cigar in the sampler back coming in at 6 1/8 x 55.  I don’t know the blend information and I could even find out what the wrapper is as, again, the Atabey and 2 Guys Smoke Shop website doesn’t have any information on the cigar.

The cigar has stunning construction with a perfect wrapper and a perfectly applied cap.  The wrapper is super smooth and even has a velvety touch to it.  I clipped the cap and took a prelight draw which had a strong cedar flavor.  The draw was a little tough at first, but nothing too bad.  As I lit the cigar, I was treated with dominant notes of  sweet cream, vanilla, caramel with an undercurrent of cedar and a hint of spice.  The cigar smoked amazingly well as it burned down.  The flavors didn’t change much until the end as the sweet cream and caramel took a back seat to the cedar note and the spice note was ramped up.

Overall, I really enjoyed this cigar.  It was overly complex, but that is perfectly fine to me as I really loved the flavor profile right from the start.  Out of 3 cigars in the sampler, I think I prefer the Byron, then the Atabey, then the Bandolero.  The Byron and Atabey are really close, but I enjoy the flavor profile and added strength of the Byron a little more.  All the cigars were really good, but the big question is whether they are worth to over $30 a piece.  That’s a tough call because you are talking about being in the Davidoff, Opus X, Padron Anniversary, etc area.  With those, we know what we are getting so we know why we are paying that price.  With the lack of information available on these cigars, we don’t know what make these cigar that expensive besides the luxury packaging.  Its up to the buyer to decided if they are truly worth that price.