2003 EL Cohiba Double Corona

[maverickdrinker]

2003 EL Cohiba Double Corona

heard some mixed reviews on this cigar lately so I figured I would fire one up this weekend. Got a few of these in a private sale and haven't smoked one yet.

Been a busy day and was looking forward to sitting back and enjoying a nice stogie.

The 2003 EL Cohiba Double Corona is a majestic looking cigar. Beautiful deep, reddish brown wrapper. Still looks oily after all these years. Nice and silky smooth to the touch. You can barely see the line of the wrapper roll, it blends in so nicely.

Decent construction with no soft spots. The cigar overall is a little softer than I am used to. Might be a tad bit underfilled. The foot looks good.

The initial aromas of the wrapper are a deep cocoa with a nice maple sugar accent. Like sticking your nose in a can of hot chocolate and marshmellow powder.

The triple cap is exquisite and takes easily to my punch

The cold draw reveals a combination of cedar, maple syrup, leather, cream and cocoa.

Time to take this to the flame.

[maverickdrinker]

First third

The cigar takes easily to flame. Nice volume of smoke emanating from the head and foot. Good for nice, full, luscious puffs.

A heavy dose of molasses, cedar, cream, black coffee and a slight sourness that I can't place right now. Surprisingly earthy. That grassy characteristic seems to be missing. Might be a result of the Maduro wrapper.

A nice sweetness to this cigar. Might have to pull out some bourbon to try with this.

The ash is a nice, light whitish grey. Burn line is good.

Afterfinish is very earthy, creamy with touches of leather, roasted nuts and honey. Like a honey granola bar. There is a sweetness in the afterfinish that reminds me of Ron Zacapa XO rum. Sort of cool, I guess.

Nice flavours so far with the exception of that 'grassiness' that you get when you smoke a Cohiba.

[maverickdrinker]

Second Third

Burn line is getting a little wonky. Might have to do a little touch up if it doesn't correct itself. Will give it a chance.

The sweetness of the cigar has picked up to compliment the earthy, roasted nuts and cream flavours that are dancing around on my palate. Very smooth cigar. No harshness at all. Elegant if anything.

Still no grassy notes. Weird!!

Chocolate covered hazelnuts and a nice latte is how I would desribe the afterfinish now. Cream, roasted nuts, cocoa with a touch of leather lingering in the backdrop. Very nice!!

Not blowing me away at the moment. It's a good cigar but seems to lack a little complexity and that damn grassy note still eludes me. Not tosay that the flavours aren't pleasant. There seem to be missing some key elements that would just make this cigar sing!!!!

Having said that, I would call this a cigar to relax with. The size and flavours denote that you sit back and enjoy.

The burn is failing me. Time for a touch up. There we go, all is good!!!!

[maverickdrinker]

Final Third

Sourdough bread interlaced with leather, earth, roasted nuts and cream comes to mind as I draw nice, full puffs of blue smoke from the cigar.

The sweetness of the cigar has mellowed out, giving way to more robust, earthy flavours.

The strength of the cigar hasn't changed throughout the time. Good to be able to say no harshness has come into the fray as well.

Burn line has since stayed the course. Waiting for the grassy notes to reveal themselves is like waiting for Santa Claus. LOL

More expresso notes come to the forefront, joined by his friends cedar, cream and cocoa. This reminds me more of a Bolivar than a Cohiba. LOL

Sweetness has packed up and gone home. Earth, cedar, cream and roasted nuts have stayed back to close out the night.

Strength has picked up to medium full. A good kick. Not overwhelming at all. The good news is that the cigar is all flavour. No harshness. Nice!!!!

Final Impressions

This is a decent smoke. Nothing overly complex however, beautiful flavours for what it is.

There are some impressions though that need to be mentioned. It didn't have the grassy notes that you would expect from a Cohiba. Very different to the profile. The flavours, while enjoyable, kept me wanting more as there was little change throughout the cigar. I was looking for more complexity, considering it's age as well as more of the cornerstone 'Cohiba' flavours to come through.

It just didn't 'taste' like a Cohiba to me.

Considering the price tag for these, you would expect more from it. I enjoyed the Cohiba Reserva Esplendido a whole lot more.

[Jnaube]

Great review as usual man. Lovely cigar too.

[Colt45]

There have been a number of discussions where members have felt that ELs (especially relatively early in the program) have rarely been representative

of the respective marques. A general consensus that ELs have / had rather more generic profiles, kind of as you've described.

Thanks for the review.

[kidmac]

Good review! Thanks. Do you think they have reached there peak or should they get better in years to come?

[Hacigar]

Good review! Thanks. Do you think they have reached there peak or should they get better in years to come?

it has to reach

we are talking about 11 years

[bassman]

My box of DCs bought on release was absolutely stunning for the first year. The cigars then went flat. There's always hope for a turnaround, but I wish I'd smoked more fresh.

[Yoruba Hacker]

Patently obvious to say each person's experiences are unique to them, but your post is another reminder of that for me.

Had a very negative impression of these when they first came out, as did many of my cigar brothers. All charcoal and mollasses and EL with no hint of Cohiba-ness, and I was mad about it, as they were spendy back in the day. Hated on them for years, but have tried a couple over the past two or three years, and like the Sublimes, I take everything I ever said about them back.

Very smooth, and the charcoally-ness has fallen off to unveil more Cohiba than EL. Not that they have become equivalently aged Esplendidos in taste, but much more of that flavor spectrum came through. In fact, I'd argue that they are approaching just the right balance of mature Cohiba and EL.

Always wonder how much of this is the cigar and how much is my palate. I recall in those days, I couldn't understand how anyone could drink that horrible iodine-y Islay scotch. Couldn't pay me to drink it. Now it's pretty much the only type of scotch I drink. <shrug>