Corona Extra, 6" x 42 ring gauge / approx. $6.50
EloGio Cigars are made in Nicaragua and are blended by Pereda Robaina, grandson of the Cuban tobacco legend, Alejandro Robaina. The Serie Habano uses all Nicaraguan tobacco from Conega and Jalapa as well as a small farm near Somoto. I first heard of these on a recent trip to Uptown's Smoke Shop in Nashville. I bought one and was gifted another by a friend, Allen, from the Nashville Cigar Club. This review is based on those two sticks.
The EloGio is a statement in classy simplicity. A fairly simple band that is multi-color but definitely not ornate and no secondary band...in fact, no indication of what line this cigar belonged to (they have another line, the Serie LSV, which has a darker wrapper leaf). The wrapper is between a medium-brown and the golden "shade" color--almost a caramel color. There were a few visible veins but nothing all that big to the touch. The aroma from the wrapper was reminiscent of honey and roasted nuts; I got more compost and manure notes on the foot. The prelight draw was a just a bit tight; I noted a mild sweetness of natural tobacco and some nuttiness and just a bit of spice on the cold draw.
One of the primary flavor components upon lighting was roasted nuts. The first time I smoked one of these my wife kept getting a "peanut butter" note in the second-hand smoke--these are one of the nuttiest smokes I can remember (the debate raged a couple weeks ago at Burns, though, whether it was creamy or chunky peanut butter that one person was tasting). There was also a decent amount of pepper spice, both on the palate and on the retrohale (one person I know would call this "burny"). Throughout the first third I got that roasted nut flavor predominantly; there was also a little leather and a bit of sweetness.
There was still plenty of nuttiness through the second third, while the sweetness resolved into a more definite caramel flavor--an almost burnt caramel. There were some wood notes as well...oak, I believe. The draw was very good and the burn line was even enough, though not nearly straight since a minor tunnel issue that had occurred early in the first third.
The last third was more-or-less a continuation of the second with a bit of body-building. What started out as a strictly medium-bodied cigar built to the medium-to-full level by the end. Overall , this was a very full-flavored smoke that I would say is accessible to almost anyone because it is never overwhelming in terms of body or strength. Right not this cigar is fairly hard to find, but if you see it, you should definitely give it a try. A friend recently told mg a very specific, somewhat technical term to apply to a cigar like this: Yummy!
Body: 7/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
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