Review: La Corona Panatelas en Celos; December 1998

[Derboesekoenig]

La Corona Dec 1998 Panatelas en Celos

I thought the 20 year anniversary of this box would be appropriate to begin smoking these. It is odd to think that I was only seven years old when these were rolled. The oldest cigar I’ve had to date besides this one was the Sancho Panza Bachilleres, and though I was more impressed with the La Coronas, they were indeed different. That just goes to show you price means nothing when it comes to cigars and these reaffirm that belief for me.

Being roughly one-third the price of the Bachilleres, the other reviews that I have read thus far, and the fact that the SP were handmade vs. the machine made La Coronas, I was not quite sure what to expect. It turns out machine made does not necessarily mean inferior all the time.

Pre-light draw and aroma produced hints of cedar and a savory note I could not quite delineate. The first five minutes after lighting, the Panatelas burned a bit wonky, but quickly readjusted itself and smoked like a laser thereafter. The first thing you notice is that classic old-school Cuban twang that is unmistakable. Had I smoked this blind, I would have immediately guessed it was at least 15-20 years old.

Flavors throughout did not permutate much, and the first and second third were nearly identical. I picked up nutty along with that savory flavor which produced a very pleasant mouth-coating, creamy, viscous smoke, as well as a bit of anise and some kind of stale bread notes—not necessarily a bad thing—and the last 5 minutes produced a flavor that I could not quite identify. It will sound strange, but something in between earthy and peppery. It picked up strength toward the end and was medium to medium plus for strength and body. They are pretty bold cigars for being 20 years old, for sure.

To conclude, if you are looking for complex, stick to what is currently being produced because this is not it. For me, it produced a different feeling of how Cuban tobacco may have been pre-2000 and I really enjoyed it. Completely different than regular production I’m used to smoking. It was nice to throw my palette for a loop with this one.

Sorry for the lack of pictures whilst smoking, but I included pictures in the box and of the box code.

Anyway, thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed!