Does anyone have any comments they'd like to share about the Cuba Aliados brand. I smoked them many years ago, so I can't remember if they were any good or not. I remember hearing a story a while back that it's the same cigar as the Puros Indios. Is this true?, and are they any good?

zeegars at tonylum dot com

If you like PI, then you'll like Cuba Aliados.
Hard to tell them apart, in my opinion.
I don't know if they're exactly the same, but nearly identical.

Rolando Reyes Sr. dances to his own tune. All of his cigars have a very similar taste profile: Cuba Aliados, --(letters missing)Special Coronas, Puros Indios, Genuine, and some of the Pirate's Gold that were rolled by Rolando Jr. in Rolando Sr.'s factory.

Rolando Sr. is an old time Cuban purist. No dyes are used, so all of his wrappers, Colorado, Colorado Claro, and Maduro look exactly the same. The doble Maduro is far from an oscuro; more like a deep rosado. One of Rolando Sr.'s peculiarities, it is told, is that he grades wrapper color by the day, so Colorado one day is Colorado Claro the next.

If you are unfamiliar with Rolando Sr.'s cigars, they will surprise you on first light. The first quarter inch, for an inexplicable reason, has a very unusual taste and aroma. Once past that 1/4 inch, they generally settle down to a fine smoke.

If there has been a rap against Rolando Sr., it's that he'll pack too much tobacco into a cigar and make it a tight draw. I have found that they always need rest, sometimes years. Currently, I have four boxes of Cuba Aliados #4s that have been at rest for three years. In another year, I won't concern myself with tight draw. They'll either smoke wonderfully or become missiles as I pitch them.

Joking aside,,,the #4 is as narrow a gauge as I would go with any of Rolando Sr.'s cigars.

To the best of my knowledge, the most recent of Rolando Jr.'s production was by Augusto Reyes who is not a relative.