Fonseca Delicias Petit Corona 2014 Easter Review Competition

[CoCigarSmoker]

Another fine morning off from work and another opportunity to sit on the deck with a good cup of coffee and a fine cigar!! I’ve never had a Fonseca and figured I might as well change that today. So I poured some coffee and pulled out a Fonseca Delicias Petit Corona. This cigar comes wrapped in fine white paper with the band over the top. The presentation is something unique to me and I’ve never seen this before. Once the paper and band were removed the beautiful light brown wrapper was very pleasant to the eye. The only downside to the wrapper itself was what appeared to be one large continuous vein from foot to cap. The cigar overall was soft and this had me worrying about possible issues with it being under filled. There was especially a small area just below the cap that almost had a dimple were there was no filler.

Pre-light

The draw on this cigar was surprisingly just about spot on (only a tad on the loose side). On the cold draw notes of tobacco and a subtle sweetness came forward on the tongue. A hint of coffee was discernable but overall the cigar was very mild in nature.

First Third

The cigar is very mild in body and strength but I rather enjoy this first thing in the morning. Notes of toasted tobacco, mild black coffee, and sweet earth roll around the tongue. I must confess for such a little cigar the smoke is very thick and high in volume. Thus far this is quite a simple yet enjoyable cigar. Unless things rapidly change I’d say this would be a great intro cigar to someone that has never smoked much or is perhaps new to the CC game. Towards the end of the first third I was able to pick up notes of barnyard and hay, albeit very light notes, they were present and very much enjoyable.

Second Third

As the second third rolls around there are just a few notes of soft pepper and/or spice. In light of the majority of this cigar being very mild so far I find these notes a pleasant surprise as they seem to almost “liven” up the stick for a moment at a time without overpowering the soft flavor profile observed in the first third. There is definitely a creamy sweetness to this cigar that is southing on the tongue and the dominant flavors continue to be almost a sweet wood or sweet grass, coffee, and toasted tobacco with a hint of barnyard. I continue to be amazing by the volume of smoke pulled during each draw and that must be a highlight of the cigar without a doubt. One thing that I have noticed about this cigar that I’ve never encountered before is, at times I can almost hear what sounds like the heat of the ash hitting a pocket of moisture and burning it or sizzling it away. I find this odd because Colorado is so dry and it is a FIGHT to keep my humidor at 65 RH. Most of the time my humi hovers around 59-63 RH at best. What say the peanut gallery?

Final Third

The cigar went out just as I was about to enter the final third. No issues with the relight and no discernable change in flavor from having to give the stick a touch up. That being said the flavor profile on this cigar has stayed pretty much the same. One thing I have noticed is that the ash just won’t hold on past ½”. There has been a harsh/hot note of flavor here and there as I get closer to the end of the cigar but nothing I would call consistent or worth pitching the stick over. As the cigar comes to a close the last third mirrored the second in terms of body, flavor, and strength.

Overall

I’d say this cigar would rate low to mid 80’s at best. The body and strength of this cigar would be mild with a moment or two where it hovers towards medium. The overall flavor profile is subtle but includes: black coffee, slight soft pepper, barnyard and hay, and sweet grass or wood. For a cheap easy morning stick I suppose this cigar wouldn’t be a bad edition to the humidor but something tells me that I can find other Petit Coronas out there that would fill this niche and do it better than the Fonseca. I woudn’t be opposed to grabbing some of these sticks for the right price (read cheaper than dirt), but overall I’m not running out to the store to try and track them down. Given my background with stronger NC sticks I’d be much more willing to grab a party short, Boli PC, Boli JC, or RASCC before this Fonseca. Either way a morning with a cup of coffee and a CC is still a great morning. Total time spent smoking this little guy was right at 1 hr. 30 minutes.

Cheers,

Seth

[Hunter1974]

Great review as alaways seth

[JohnS]

It's great to see you give this one a go, Seth. Yes, these are handmade, but are short filler so the ash length is understandable. My understanding is that the Fonseca No.1 would be more favoured by our forum members, if you can track it down in your region (not available in mine, and CCW states discontinuation from 2012).

As for ambient humidity, I have the opposite issue where I reside. It takes a little work to keep my cigars drier, but more than that, to deal with the temperature fluctuations, especially in the warmer months.

[dflan82]

Dude, you are on fire with the reviews! Awesome job man. I too have run into that pop/sizzle every now and then on both my CC's and NC's, but I have not found it anything to worry about (could be wrong). I tend to keep my humidors in the low to mid 60's in RH as a preference so you could be onto something with the moisture pocket theory.

Anyway great review my friend.

Dan

[CoCigarSmoker]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I may actually have a No. 1 in the humi. I'll have to report back on this tomorrow maybe!

Seth