Corona Especial, 5.875" x 47 ring gauge, $8.50The Coronado was created by La Flor Dominicana owner, Litto Gomez, several years ago as a line separate and above the regular LFD lines. It was honored as one of 2006's top cigars by Cigar Aficionado magazine and has continued to be one of my "go-to" smokes since the first time I tried it. It features Dominican Piloto Cubano and Dominican Sumatran fillers along with a Dominican Corojo wrapper and packs quite the punch for such an unassuming-looking cigar.
The wrapper is a dark "natural" color with a few larger veins and a bit of mottling. There was also a little discoloration, but nothing serious. The aroma from the wrapper was sweet tobacco and hay; from the foot there was a little chocolate, along with wet earth and a hint of coffee. The prelight draw tasted of honey and dried berries.
The first third of this smoke had flavors of cedar, caramel, and coffee. The burn line got off to a mediocre start, but as the cigar was cracked when I took it out of the cello wrapper, I couldn't really fault the roller. I don't know when the damage occurred, but it's really not fair to blame the company when it is something that was possible under your control. Even at this early stage of the cigar, it was easy to tell that this stick had quite of bit of strength. On a smaller vitola like this one, it would be unlikely to overwhelm any but the newest smoker, but on larger sticks, this is one to be prepared for. The smoke was fairly full-bodied, without being over the top.
I would be remiss on reviewing the Coronado without mentioning the band. Someone did a truly remarkable job in creating the band for the Coronado. It is very colorful, with gold foil, embossing and die-cutting, all creating a quite wonderful combination that is eye-catching and visually pleasing. As a graphic designer, I really appreciate the quality of this one: very rich looking without being gaudy and over the top.
The second third of the Coronado featured more coffee flavors along with some sweet hay and caramel flavors. It's almost like they wanted to create a cigar that had the typical mild flavors of a Davidoff, but with much more kick and some other interesting flavors that you get with fuller-bodied sticks.
The final third was much the same as the second, but it is surprising just how powerful this cigar can be. The Coronado, even in this relatively small Corona Especial vitola, is not a cigar to be underestimated. It is full-bodied, full-flavored, and full-strength. If you smoke it in larger vitolas, you would be well-advised to eat a hearty meal first so you don't risk spilling your guts all over the floor afterward. The construction quality of the cigar was first-rate; although it started off with a fairly uneven burn, it corrected itself before too long and continued to burn straight with a wonderful draw all the way till the end.
Body: 9/10
Strength: 8/10 (for this size)
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
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