Cigar Number 2. FOH 2012 Blind Tasting

[El Presidente]

Welcome to Cigar number 2 of the Blind tasting!

Just a revision of the rules.

There have been three cigars picked by myself. These are Standard Production Cigars (No Regional, Edicion Limitada or Specialty Cigars).

1. Cigars (all 3 and bandless) sent from Feb 9th to Feb 23rd. Cigars selected from same code and aroma/wrapper appearance.

2. This year we have a Petit Corona, Corona Gorda, Churchill

3. Cigars selected will be in current production.

They will be the only hints given.

The post smoking process

1. Second cigar (Corona Gorda) smoked by 30 April with you e-mailing me me your answer. On this dedicated thread you will provide a brief review but not disclose the cigar on the forum. You will send me your selection (include your handle). By 3rd of May I will post up a spreadsheet of the results for CIgar 2 and we can move onto cigar 3

Have Fun!

Rob

[partifan]

I was the first review on the first cigar, so why not the same on the second.

Colorado claro wrapper with a light box press, sweet tobacco and a touch of spice on the foot for scent.

Prelight draws - sweet, toasted tobacco

Initial light – just under medium, toasted tobacco, wood

First third - Wood, spice, fleeting sweetness, solid medium to medium full

Second third - Earth comes in and out, sweetness, spice

Third third - Lush flavors, still in the medium to medium full range, spice, wood, earth

[CanuckSARTech]

Just a revision of the rules....

So....if we pick the right blend/marca within the right format, but the wrong box name, do we get partial marks??? How many apples do we have to bring in to the teacher to get a freebie on the test scores???

(Rob, you need to get a "dog-walking-away-with-his-tail-tucked-firmly-between-his-legs" emoticon....)

[Hohenthal]

Blind Tasting Cigar Nr. 2:

Wrapper: Colorado-Colorado, tensile, oily, with a slick feel to the touch.

Aroma / Draw at cold: leather from the wrapper, sweet tobacco from the foot.

Construction: slightly flattened sides, which suggests dress-box, but after ignigting, with the added warmth, perfectly round

(can't rule out cabinets really), restricted draw, perfect burn.

Very complex smoke, not a distinct division into thirds really, but the

main charachteristics were:

Sweet: cocoa, chocolate, dark forest honey.

"Animal": leather and musk.

Toasty: toasted tobacco, fresh baked ciabatta bread, unsweetened wafers.

Fresh / refreshing: young spring gass, apple, grape skin.

Tremendously enjoyable cigar, I would give it a 92 / 93 out of 100.

Good luck everybody!

Cheers, Alex

[PigFish]

Oh, no! Time for another harsh lesson in the cigar profile theory!!! Enjoy mates! -Piggy

[Hohenthal]

Oh, no! Time for another harsh lesson in the cigar profile theory!!! Enjoy mates! -Piggy

who / what do you mean?

just kidding, peace mate

[toasterhead]

FOH Blind Cigar Tasting Cigar 2

Corona Gorda

46 x 5.6"

60 deg F/65% RH x 6 weeks; dry box x 1 day

Here are my notes and I am sticking to them:

Beautiful construction, silky wrapper, well rolled, one side flat but probably from cab (round)

Mellow sweet smell and light tobacco flavor on cold draw

Light grey ash, perfect combustion

Immediate grassy flavor, light sweet tobacco notes

Pleasant light body, drying smoke in mouth, tannic, astringent

Hints of wood, vanilla in background of pleasant grassy flavor

Darker notes mid way; hint of spice/light pepper, still sweet overall, grass falls to background

Pleasant down to last inch, bitter notes come out

Enjoyable

My thanks to herfing buddies Scott, Henry, Peter, and Dave for the puff-pass reality testing.

We disagreed some on the identity, but I will take the glory/blame for the final guess.

Dave

[rahko]

Hey, I know this flavor profile, it's the one I don't like!

Light, dry, grassy, even got anise at one point, but it's not that one since they are discontinued.

Milk coffee half way in, nice touch but didn't last too long.

Surprisingly refreshing change of pace though, since I never smoke these. Probably.

[TexAg]

FOH Blind Cigar 2:

Prelight:

I got nothing but sweet tobacco flavors and a nice smooth finish. Just a smidge of resistance in the draw, but I like that.

1st Third:

Right off the bat, super creamy and some hint of fruit. Subtle coffee and cedar notes as well. Not strong, maybe medium at best.

2nd Third:

Creaminess is sustained and the cedar notes have gotten stronger. Amazing draw and flavor.

Final Third:

The creaminess slowly subsided and left coffee notes with no fruit present. Cedar still prevalent. Still medium in strength.

Overall:

What an amazing cigar! I will definitely be picking a box of these up whenever it is revealed. Great flavor and it wasn't too strong but not too weak. Final rating: 95/100.

Rob: PM sent with guess

[Mnasrin]

i was pretty late on cigar 1, sorry Rob. i thought i should do cigar 2 as soon as possible..here it goes

first third: some cedary notes including some leathery taste.

second third: the taste developed towards a more stronger and lots of roasted coffee taste.

last third: some sweet raisin taste coming forward and the strength edge down a bit as well as the black coffee taste slowly receding.

some burn issues but corrected in the first third.

unlike cigar 1 which i like very much this one didn't appeal to me.

that is it guys.

[Pilgrims]

Tan colour, straw and saddle leather aroma on cold

A little loose, a little fruit too on cold draw

Initial thoughts...lighter side of medium, very well balanced

1st third, no overriding flavours but a little old leather and some citrus in there, a good smoke...

2nd third, it started to ramp up in intensity some of which I'll put down to the fact it is slightly underfilled and therefore a wee bit of a fast hot burner...still good mind you, earthy flavours coming through, weight of good smoke though the nose but no spice...

Aroma of the smoke is lovely but hard to define, very mellow...

3rd third, suddenly burn issues, totally unpredicted, a harsh edge too, other than that just a bit boring now, nicely mellow has become a touch tedious...(had to move to my sons treehouse as yet more rain arrived)

Nothing wrong with it but nothing going for it either....

86...love this size and feel I will have had this just a better actual cigar than this one

[cottierm]

Ok, here is my review.

Appearance: beautifully applied colorado wrapper; shiny but not oily; very good construction.

Pre-light aroma: very light sweet tobacco.

Prelight taste: milk chocolate/coffee + sugar; a tiny bit of spiciness on the lips.

Draw: good with slight restraint.

Burn: excellent, no retouch needed.

Smell in combustion: leathery and aggressive on the nose.

Strength: 3/5.

Ash: white-grey; medium flakiness; good consistency.

First third: sweet tobacco + milk chocolate/coffee. The profile moves quickly to sweet woodiness with a bit of cocoa in the back.

Second third: leathery profile at the front, sweet woodiness at the end. There is roundness here although the balance of flavours is not achieved yet.

Final third: more leather than wood but still an overall sweetness. An attack of white pepper in the middle of the last third adds itself to the leather-wood profile.

Conclusions: I really enjoyed the two first thirds and much less the final one. 88 at the moment.

Will ponder my answer for a few days.

Good luck to all!

Michel

[dB69]

Mystery Cigar #2, Corona Gorda.

Drink: Coke Light. Music: Robin Trower's Bridge Of Sighs.

Cigar weight 11.09g. Beautiful shiny wrapper, perfect! Perfect construction as well. Rose as cold scent, nice. Cutting with scissors.

Very good firm draw. Barnyard, leather and chilli on cold draw. Ignition..

1/3: Smoked nuttiness. Light to medium body and flavour, very good. Ginger. Light saltiness. Some leather. Hints of vanilla.

2/3: Burning wrapper smells like leather. Some pepper. Medium body and flavour. Sweet fruit candy, excellent!

...And then I read the news about discontinuing Trinidad - got a little upset...

Had to re-light the cigar.

3/3: Spiciness. A bit too much youth. Burning wood in the end, delicious.

Long and tasty aftertaste of toasted tobacco. Excellent medium cigar!

With some years of age on it this would have been a classic. Thanks!

[laranced]

Lost most of my notes Gentlemen. So from memory here we go.

Construction: Good, sand paper wrapper, with a few angle kisses, slightly spongy in some areas.

Aroma at cold: Light sweet tobacco at the foot and barn yard at the head.

Draw: Was tight with a punch so I used the cutter which improved it.

First light: Lots of white pepper which settled into a light dry hay mixed with honey mead. A little bit of anise.

First third: The splash of pepper is no gone replaced by grass and honey mead. Light to medium body.

Second third: Remained smooth but not creamy. Most toasted tobacco but still keeping that light honey body.

Last third: More splashes of pepper. Body is becoming stronger. Finished off with very light earthy mushroom notes.

I have never had this cigar before. Good change of pace. Rated it an 89. Would have liked the flavours to stay in the medium range and a little bit more richer before I reach for these again.

Pretty sure I know what this one is.

Enjoy the pictures.

Slothy

[micahzeff]

Cigar 2:

Aroma of honey pre-light.

Started with a big hit of cedar, slightly bitter. Had to relight, then flavors improved somewhat.

Picked up mostly a hay like flavor, slight citrus note.

Acrid taste returned, wrapper didn't seem to want to burn. Again had to relight, after which aroma of hay again dominated.

[AntiVirus]

My Review:

Cigar 2: Corona Gorda

Cigar is well constructed with a colorado claro wrapper and a nice sheen.

Opening: Nothing to special here, plenty of smoke with some toasted tobacco notes

First Third: Some flavours start to develop here mainly a stonefruit characteristic with cream, currently just under medium

Second Third: Not a lot has changes since the first third, but hints of citrus are coming and going enough to keep this cigar interesting, medium

Final Third: The flavours are still very similar to the first two thirds, but the creaminess has left and there are some tannic notes to the cigar now, about medium starting to get a touch fuller

Final Thoughts: This cigar was a decent smoke, it was fairly one dimensional though. It would be good to find what this cigar and give it another go later on as i'm sure I didn't get the best example of what this cigar has to offer.

[Sutton]

I just typed up a big review and it disappeared on me.

short & sweet the cigar was bitter for the first 10mm

the 1st &2/3rd where very similar with wood and espresso taste.

The cigar really came together in the final 3rd. Lots of smoke & that taste that coats your mouth & makes you salivate.

The profile of this cigar came to me in the final 3rd.

In all the cigar was ok , needed to sleep and if i wasn't so drunk when i smoked it i may have remembered more of it.

[Lotusguy]

My quick review...

Medium box-press

Medium brown wrapper

Light chocolate aroma at cold

Perfect draw

Smoke time: 1:15

Nuts, light twang. No spice or leather. Creamy. Medium amount of smoke. Medium body. Some wood creeping in. Body moving towards the lighter side. Pleasant, if a bit muted. Firm ash. Very straight burn. More woodiness now. Burn starts to get a little crooked after first third. More wood and nuts. Light-Medium body. Stays this way through the 2nd third and last third but needs a few touchups. Did not get harsh even at the very end.

Overall: Pleasant, but not exciting. Leagues better for me than blind tasting cigar #1 in terms of construction and flavor. I'd give this one an 87

[sg1234]

Great construction with minimal veins. Box pressed. Aroma at cold is phenomenal! Barnyard and sweet tobacco with a hint of "perfume." I love it when a cigar smells like this out of the box!

1st third - peanut off the light, which quickly turns to a waxy, vegetable taste (maybe zucchini). Predominant flavors are pine nuts, hay, and toasted tobacco.

2nd third - apricot, plum (at times), and toasted tobacco

Final third - clean, toasted tobacco; faint blueberry finish (tart)

Body ranged from medium to medium-full towards the end. 88 points overall. I've narrowed this one down to 3 possible cigars -- 2 of which I have smoked before.

[Ghabanos]

Fantastic construction. Super smooth with slight oiliness.

Draw was ok. Rectangular box press.

Opening. Toasted tobacco. Light hay. I would be more happy with thicker smoke.

1/3. Touch of light spice on tip of tongue which dissipates almost immediately. Enjoyable.

This stick is really beautify. I can't stop looking at it. Construction is awesome. Burn is sharp.

2/3. Not much more to report. The cigar is light in every way. Light smoke. Light flavs. Light on strength. Not getting any distinct flavs at this point. Light spice. Front and back of tongue. Current production cigar but not tasting any youth on this. Enjoyable.

3/3. Smooth. Smoke has brought on some barnyardiness. Strength increased. Hay. Not a whole lot of complexity. Feels like a 88 89 cigar. I would get some more. For me there wasn't a whole lot to think about. Just enjoyable. High marks for burn and construction.

[amosnaim]

Awsome cigar.

Corona Gorda; mildely box pressed; nice light colorado wrapper

Dried box for 48 hours

Aroma at cold: some hay; some sweet tobacco notes.

Opening and First third:

starts with a bit of a spice, but continues very smoothly;

perfect draw, lots of creamy smoke;

the main flavor i get is of green fruits. Very nice and fresh.

Second Third

Here is where the cigar shows real complexity.

If you smoke it slow enough it takes you to a marvelous journey; changing flavors every few puffs.

I am getting some dried fruits, then it changes into strong Pecan flavor, and back to stong friut/green fruit.

Just gorgeous.

Final Third

some construction and burn issues, but nothing too big to ruin the enjoyment from this cigar.

still creamy smoke.

still freshness/fruit notes to it.

Wrap up

solid 92-93. I loved this cigar.

I am debating between two options (and most likely wrong on both...), but i am into splitting a PSP box of this one if anyone is intrested.

cheers and good luck

[dicko]

Perfect construction, colorado colour,

Green vegetable opening puffs. Cedary aftertaste. Mild opening.

1^st- capsicum astringency. Some puffs reveal peanuts and vanillan oak.

2^nd - Struggling a bit with the draw, also some wet/green flavours, should have dry boxed this guys.

Green flavours, I guess grass like some other blokes have got, also nuts persist.

3^rd- same as above. Strength never moved above medium.

Final thoughts - 86 , decent enough cigar, I should have dryboxed it and I think this cigar is quite young. I think I recognise this cigar but it looks different and wasn’t as strong as im used to. Therefore, I think I don’t know what this is :-/

[Styler]

Not had much of a chance to kick back and enjoy a cigar this month so this was a bit rushed unfortunately.

The cigar had a wonderful honey smell emanating from the glossy wrapper, the cold draw was just toasted tobacco with a touch of mouth spice.

The opening was thick, creamy and cuban. There was a flavour that reminded me of the dark skin you get on top of a home made rice pudding!

This was not a cigar of thirds, the flavours kept changing, coming up to the fore then fading away again. There was a lot of nuttyness at the start which gave way to a stronger cedar/leather combo later on. Hints of cocoa and cream appeared at times and three or four puffs had a cherry like flavour which I would really have liked a lot more of.

Again, I am down to two sticks. I chose the wrong one last time so hopefully I'll have better luck with this one.

[cigaraholic]

Nice medium colorado wrapper, smooth but not oily.

Draw was perfect, cold flavors were pumpkin pie spices.

Started with sweet peanut butter and buttered toast flavors, slightly under medium body.

Body built slightly at the end with mild butter toffee flavors.

I think there was a nice cigar in there trying to get out but all I got was a little tease.

[theholmesmob]

Smoked over the weekend whilst reading the papers.

I would say this was on the medium spectrum and an enjoyable smoke. For the thirds 1 & 2 I was getting some sweetness and some coffee. Much preferred this cigar over number one. In the last third it started to get a bit astringent ... Youthfulness?!

No bloody idea... Time to take a punt....