Aladino Corojo Elegantes, unknown, Pour Over Coffee & Irish Tea (MM&SRW)

[Mrcpt]

Two things I’ve recently been getting into are pour over coffee and corojo tobacco.  There’s this distinct flavor I’ve mentioned in my other reviews that I’m always chasing: something like almond oil or molasses. If there is any truth to the claim that the Eiroa corojo is as close to pre blue mold Cuban tobacco as you can get in America (which I obviously take with a huge grain of salt), then this flavor note is what’s got me sold. In Habanos, I get that molasses & almond oil from Bolivar and occasionally Partagas, and to me Honduran Corojo provides a less tangy, more barnyardy version of the same note. 

As for the pairing, I mentioned before that I recently got into pour over coffee; I’m still working on my technique (e.g., grind size, water temp, ratio), but I am able to identify some of the more dominant notes. I decided to give the El Gallo Breakfast Blend from Intelligentsia Coffee a try; it’s advertised notes include citrus, stone fruits, and caramel. I think these advertised notes would go great with a PLPC or PLMC.. but that will be for another review. I also decided to pair the cigar with black tea, specifically Barry’s original blend, a crisp Irish breakfast tea with malty notes.

The cold draw is a straightforward tangy tobacco. The coffee is sweet and zesty with a bit of caramel.  Upon lightup the signature corojo flavors of almond oil and molasses are there, but a bit muted. The finish is a bit short and the retro is very light.  About an inch in these flavors pickup in intensity and the retrohale gets a bit spicy. I’m also noticing a stone fruit on the finish.  I think the flavors of the coffee match well with those of the cigar, but they are more intense and frankly overpower the cigar. 

About halfway through I switch from coffee to tea, which I immediately think is a better pairing.  The tea has a malty twang with a crisp finish; very refreshing and not at all overpowering.  Instead of matching the flavor notes of the cigar, I think it complements them. As for the cigar, a light cocoa note makes a short appearance about halfway through and the flavors lighten a bit while the aroma picks up.  

By Cuban standards, this is a solid medium body smoke, but I think it’s mild to medium among non Cubans. I like to use a one to five scale to rate cigars: 1 - would not smoke again; 2 - would smoke again; 3 - would buy singles; 4 - would buy a box; 5 - go deep on boxes.  I would rate this cigar a 3: There is something missing from this blend; it feels like it’s missing some punch or bite. I heard there is more ligero added to the larger ring guage vitolas, so I’m eager to try them out. 
 

[Mrcpt]

1 hour ago, Lrabold89 said:

Are you using a timed scale and temperature reader on your kettle for your pour over ? Also, what dripper and Grinder are you using?


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I use a Bonavita variable temp goose neck and a digital scale. My pour over is a chemex knockoff from amazon, the grinder is an electric conical burr (also amazon knockoff) but I did order a baratza encore which I’m very excited about. 

[Huckleberry]

IMHO their Corojo Reserva has everything their standard corojo line is missing.  I too am a Corojoho.  I would love to see a collaboration with Honduran Corojo wrapper leaf and CC everything else.  

If we are comparing smoking experiences the Leaf by Oscar is a better corojo smoke than either of the Aladino's.  That being said, I do enjoy both the Leaf and the Reserva and find the Reserva from Aladino to be the stronger cigar, noticeably more nicotine IMHO.

[Cigar Surgeon]

8 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

IMHO their Corojo Reserva has everything their standard corojo line is missing.  I too am a Corojoho.  I would love to see a collaboration with Honduran Corojo wrapper leaf and CC everything else.  

Another +1. My thoughts were exactly on the Corojo Reserva. I felt the same as OP also, the Elegantes felt like it was missing a leaf of tobacco. 

[AugustWestNH]

The Corojo Reserva is excellent. Just picked up a box of the Vintage in the Elegante .... I like this more than the other two. Great stuff coming from them.


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[Enduin]

Among NCs Eiroa cigars were always among my favorite. Gimmick or not their Corojo does have something more flavor-wise than what I could find in other NCs (including other NCs claiming to use Corojo leaf). I still have 4 Camacho Corojo Robustos from 2011 (before the Eiroa family sold the brand) that were incredibly flavorful especially for NC standards. A few years ago I had several cigars from Christian Eiroa, and some Aladino, which were still better than most other NCs to my taste, but I don't feel like they ever replicated the magic of the old Camacho Corojo, at least to my taste...

[Mrcpt]

38 minutes ago, Lrabold89 said:

I have an encore, but upgraded about a year ago ….if I had to do it all over again I would’ve not gotten the encore and saved the money for something higher end…..you’ll get to a point where the encore just won’t do it for you anymore and you’ll realize you can’t get the coffee you want ……save the money and put it into something better in the first place if you can …..also, try the ceramic Kalita wave 185 as your dripper …it’s very forgiving and makes a good round sweet cup every time


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Turns out he was right as I’m learning.