Rafael Gonzalez Corona Extra April 06


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Well I brought an 06 along to Sarasota Fla so I will see how mine compares. Just finished up a Boli Gold Medal...perfect for a cool night on the lanai trying to convince my wife that she needs to put out more...it aint working so far !! ;-) But the Boli was excellent IMO.

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I had and revieved a very good November 05 RGCE earlier this year and I was looking forward to revieving an 06 vintage. The 05 was a big improvement on a cigar which to me had been in the wilderness for some time.

After selecting the cigar we had a visitor in Tim from Salt Lake City turn up at Czar house. Always looking for a review partner he joined me on the deck. If any one of you are in the neighbourhood...never hesitate to pop in and say hello!

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This was a good lookin Corona Gorda. Some oil discernable from the wrapper. Appeared well rolled but foot was a touch open. Aroma at cold was Chinese tea and quality tobacco.

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Clipped the cap to find an over easy draw. I suppose it is better than the many early 2000's which were plugged but I still want HSA to put pressure on TABACUBA to somehow get this right. The looseness of the draw made it nigh impossible to determine any flavours at a cold draw.

Fired up the foot and there was an immediate hit of black pepper spice both on the palate and through the nose. Nice start Rafael! Tim found the opening a little aggressive but I assured him it would settle down before long.....and it did....made me look like a genius :-D

The opening inch or so was right in the medium full batting zone. Spicy, out of balance (no doubt affected by the easy draw) but it began to mellow into a medium bodied format and that is when Rafael began to remind me why I had fallen in love with this cigar all those years ago. Touch of dried apricot, touch of nougat, some cream, some juicy long grass stalks. Previous elements of balck pepper have gone but still white pepper through the nose. At the end of the first third this was a very enjoyable cigar.

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You know the feeling when you cross off 4 numbers of a lotto ticket and can feel the $10,000,000 in your bank account only to be brought back to reality when nothing else eventuates? Well that is the same feeling I had when going through the second third of Rafael.

The Apricot and Nougat nusances slowly faded away. The grassiness came to the fore and thankfully brought along the cream. There was a light tobacco flavour to blend out the profile but it had now dropped to below medium bodied. Black and white pepper gone. It had gone from great to average somewhere between the discussion of New Englands chances for an NFL clean sweep and the lack of Lap dance establishments in Salt Lake.

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I was willing with all my might for Rafael to make a comeback in the last third but it simply did not have it in it. The flavour profile did not change. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't pitchable but it was about as exciting as being kissed by your sister ( For Tasmanian and Appalacian members....this is normally regarded as not exciting).

The body did build in the last third and there was an attempt at some coffee but it was about as convincing as Starbucks.

Overall I was disappointed. The eady draw no doubt crueled another cigar and I am tempted to locate one with a more restrictive draw. Will a better draw hold those marvellous apricot and nougat nuances? I don't know but I will endeavour to find out. However be warned Rafael...if the next follows the same path then expect a high speed visit to the garden bed below.

85/100 3/6 Smokerings

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