I got a Royal Jamaican Oro Rojo Toro (say that 5 times fast!) from AZSteelman in the last RATS. I smoked a regular Royal Jamaican not too long ago and royally ripped it for the short filler piece of dreck that it was. As it shares the same name as this new stick, I was less than enthusiastic to try it out.
Tonight when rummaging through my humi I saw the RJOR in the pile, looking like a pimp cigar with it's gold foil wrap and a busty, dusky beauty on the band. My GF was out of the house and since I didn't want any witnesses to me smoking a Royal Jamaican I figured this was the night to try it. The dog was here, but if he wants to continue getting my steak scraps, he'll keep his muzzle shut!
The gold wrap was a bit off-putting for me. It seemed like the cigar was trying too hard and the lady on the band seemed chosen more to lure smokers based on hormonal urges than smoking pleasure. One plus, the wrap and banding came off very easily, almost like Post-it glue, leaving no damge on the wrapper. Anyone familiar with wrapped cigars cedar or otherwise know that the two bands (one holding the wrap, one under) and the foot band can sometimes be a pain if too much glue is used.
I suspected that the wrap was concealing a less than beautiful wrapper. It turned out that the wrapper was a nice, evenly colored choclatey wrapper that sported a couple of large puckered veins, like a bare knuckle boxer wears scars; ugly but in a rough manly way that dares you to mention them to his face.
In all it was a decent wrapper and was well rolled, despite the veins. The head was formed nicely and the cap was good if a tad wrinkly. The head snipped very cleanly, leaving no loose bits or shag, a huge plus in my book. The draw was firm, not tight but definitely noticeable. Another month at 65% would have probably loosened it a bit. So far a pretty solid and serviceable job on construction.
The pre-light draw was orangey with clean tea and tobacco flavors. Toasting the foot produced cofee and earth scents to the nose, with the first few puffs more of the same but sweeter with hints of over-carmelized, but not burnt, sugar.
Despite a very thorough and even light it burned a bit jagged throughout. It didn't require touch-up or relighting, it just wasn't straight. Just like a car weaving down the road, it went side to side while still heading in the same general direction.
The first inch had a distinct fermented or yeasty flavor and lost some of that sweetness. It burned with a light grey ash that was a bit flakey holding on to an inch or so with no effort. The flakes disuaded me from tempting my luck of letting it go any longer.
In the second inch or so the flavors settled in, the fermented taste still there but more pleasant with most of the swetness gone. At midway the cigar was about the same, but had rounded out a bit with all of the previously mentioned flavors finding a seat and settling in for a good show.
The room bouquet was an earthy smell tempered by the boozy aroma that seemd to corespond with the fermented flavor I was tasting.
The last third was very earthy, almost dirty but in a good way. The earthiness and fermented taste kind of reminded me of a poorman's Padilla. The orangey flavors and some vanilla notes came back and lingered on the palate.
Overall I would say this was a decent smoke. For the money they wouldn't be my first choice, but having smoked this I feel more confident in recommending the RJOR line where I would have previously told people to avoid it based on my experiences with the regular Royal Jamaica line. I'd recommend it to people who like the earthy wrapper and fermented taste of the Mexican wrapped Padilla. Even though this cigar doesn't contain Mexican tobacco it had a very similar taste.
I want to thank AZSteelman again for doing the difficult, sending me a cigar that forces me to change my perceptions and rethink my taste in cigars!
Glad I could help. I actually like it, glad to hear another view point. 
