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I had a cigar last night in front of the bonfire. It was a Tabacalera Corona by La Flor De La Isabela of the Philippines. This is the product description on their website:
"Taking its name from the parent company, Tabacalera is the flagship brand, and is the Philippines' oldest and most popular cigar"
FLAVOR: Light body, sweet, with a delicately spicy taste. Stays mild from start to finish with no bitterness. An easy smoke, very approachable. A good daytime cigar.
AROMA: Soft, floral in nature, like a cool spring breeze.
AFTERTASTE: Hints of grass and wood.
WRAPPER: Java, Indonesia
BINDER: Isabela, Philippines
FILLER: Isabela, Philippines
You can't buy them in the uk it seems but I got given half a box of them by a friend who bought them in duty free. He had them about 2 years just sat in the box bone dry before he gave them to me and I have been attempting to restore them for the last 3 months. After following some advice I read online I put them in my humidor for 1 month in the cellophane, 1 month with either end of the cellophane cut off and then about 2 months out of the cellophane. When I checked them the other night hey felt quite nice and no longer hard so I assumed they were ready to smoke.
I really wasn't impressed with this cigar. Although it was light and spicy as described, it was also very harsh and not really that enjoyable. I thought it may have been harsh because I was smoking too fast but I counted to 60 a few times before each drag yet it was still harsh. Also it didn't leave my throat dry which made me think it was sufficiently humidified. It did look like a cheapish cigar tbh and judging from the fact the ash dropped off after no more than a cm I assume it was a short filler. Also the cap was poorly applied and when I tried to cut it the end unravelled a bit. At first I just though I'd messed up with the cigar or not restored it properly, but I did find this review which is almost exactly what I experienced: http://www.cigarinspector.com/la-flo...sabela-coron-a . Elsewhere it got better reviews (7/10 on puff.com). La Flor De La Isabela also does 2 'premium' brands which are Don Juan Urquijo and 1881, both of which have been reviewed by Cigar Aficionado and got scored of 88 and 85 respectively. The fact that they haven't reviewed this one makes me think that it isn't very good
So my question is do people think that this is just a bad cigar, do you think that it isn't properly restored yet or do you think that given the amount of time the were left they are just ruined?
Sorry for the long post
Cheers
"Taking its name from the parent company, Tabacalera is the flagship brand, and is the Philippines' oldest and most popular cigar"
FLAVOR: Light body, sweet, with a delicately spicy taste. Stays mild from start to finish with no bitterness. An easy smoke, very approachable. A good daytime cigar.
AROMA: Soft, floral in nature, like a cool spring breeze.
AFTERTASTE: Hints of grass and wood.
WRAPPER: Java, Indonesia
BINDER: Isabela, Philippines
FILLER: Isabela, Philippines
You can't buy them in the uk it seems but I got given half a box of them by a friend who bought them in duty free. He had them about 2 years just sat in the box bone dry before he gave them to me and I have been attempting to restore them for the last 3 months. After following some advice I read online I put them in my humidor for 1 month in the cellophane, 1 month with either end of the cellophane cut off and then about 2 months out of the cellophane. When I checked them the other night hey felt quite nice and no longer hard so I assumed they were ready to smoke.
I really wasn't impressed with this cigar. Although it was light and spicy as described, it was also very harsh and not really that enjoyable. I thought it may have been harsh because I was smoking too fast but I counted to 60 a few times before each drag yet it was still harsh. Also it didn't leave my throat dry which made me think it was sufficiently humidified. It did look like a cheapish cigar tbh and judging from the fact the ash dropped off after no more than a cm I assume it was a short filler. Also the cap was poorly applied and when I tried to cut it the end unravelled a bit. At first I just though I'd messed up with the cigar or not restored it properly, but I did find this review which is almost exactly what I experienced: http://www.cigarinspector.com/la-flo...sabela-coron-a . Elsewhere it got better reviews (7/10 on puff.com). La Flor De La Isabela also does 2 'premium' brands which are Don Juan Urquijo and 1881, both of which have been reviewed by Cigar Aficionado and got scored of 88 and 85 respectively. The fact that they haven't reviewed this one makes me think that it isn't very good
So my question is do people think that this is just a bad cigar, do you think that it isn't properly restored yet or do you think that given the amount of time the were left they are just ruined?
Sorry for the long post
Cheers
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