Esencia Corona Gorda

This week's review is of the Esencia Corona Gorda. A few months back I reviewed the Lancero and was curious to try this blend out in some other Vitolas. One of my customers at the shop (and member of BOTL!) gifted this one to me a few weeks ago. Corona Gordas are one of my favorite sizes, measuring in at 5 5/8 X46. This is a Nicaraguan Puro blended with Criollo and Corojo tobacco and is made at Raices Cubanas in Honduras. 

This cigar has a silky wrapper that when held up the light has a reddish hue to it. Like the Lancero, this has a fair amount of veining along the length of the cigar, but all of the veins are on the smaller side. This is finished off with a Cuban style triple cap, which I think is a nice finishing touch to any cigar. After a quick clip the prelight draw shows a ton of cedar and the draw is a little on the snug side, but not tight enough to cause any concern. Once lit this starts out with plenty of flavor right from the first draw. Like the predraw, there is a lot of cedar present, as well as plenty of leather and some peppery flavors without a lot of the spice kick that usually goes along with that flavor. There is some sweetness in this cigar as well that reminds me of a Heath bar, a nice mix of chocolate and toffee. Cedar and leather are the dominant flavors starting out though, with the sweet toffee in the background. The burn needed a little touchup right before the ash fell for the first time at just under an inch. The snug draw is making for a very slow smoking cigar.

At the halfway point cedar is still the dominant flavor, but I am picking up a really nice roasted nut flavor as well. The room aroma has a nuttyness to it as well, which my girlfriend just confirmed (she isn't a fan of cigars, but she just let me know that this one smells very nutty). I wish the draw was just a little looser, but other than that this Esencia is smoking nicely. Entering the last third and the flavor has stayed pretty consistent. I am enjoying it but remember enjoying the lancero even more. 

I think the Esencia Corona Gorda has the potential to be a really tasty cigar, but the draw on this one kept it from tasting as good as it could have if the draw was a little looser. While I was able to get plenty of smoke out of it, I had to draw harder than I prefer. This may have made it burn a little hot, muting some of the flavors. These sell for around $8, which is a tricky price because there are a ton of cigars in that price range that I absolutely love. I will probably try a few more of these because I think it has a lot of potential as long as the draw is better than the one I smoked for this review. If you like full flavored medium strength Nicaraguan cigars then this one is worth trying. 

Esencia Lancero

Today's review is of the Esencia Lancero. Esencia is a Nicaruan Puro and is put out by the same company behind Palio cigar cutters (which happens to be my favorite cutter). I am pretty sure these are made at Raices Cubanas factory, which is where Illusione, Casa Fernandez and a few other cigars are produced. This lancero isn't part of the normal line up of cigars Esencia makes, and to be honest I am not sure exactly when they release this Vitola. How I came to posess this cigar is a really random story. I happened to be listening to Dogwatch Cigar Radio live and talking with a few people in the chatroom attached to the video feed and one of the guys from Esencia happened to be logged in as well. He sent out a package of Esencia cigars to all of the people logged into the chat. One of the cigars that showed up in my mailbox happened to be this Lancero! This seems to be a 7.5 X 38 and is a blend of Criollo and Corojo tobaccos.

The Esencia Lancero has a chocolate brown wrapper with a fair amount of veining, making for a rustic looking cigar. The roll feels even, which is always a plus with a thin cigar like this. I hate finding hard spots in a Lancero because this vitola is one that can suffer from a tight draw if there is anything off with the bunching. After clipping off the pigtailed cap (very small tail) the draw seems just right for a lancero. The prelight flavors are of cedar and clean tobacco. I am using a single flame torch instead of the usual double torch I normally carry due to the small ring gauge on this cigar. Once lit this starts out with some peppery spice on the tongue and plenty of deep, dark coffee flavors. There is also some earth and leather in this blend as well. Some cedar shows up on the retrohale, as well as more of the earthyness. I have smoked quite a few cigars out of the Raices Cubanas factory and this definitely reminds me of some of the other stuff they make. The burn is a little wavy and the ash only wants to hold on for about half an inch, which is pretty typical for a lancero. 

At the halfway point the spice has really backed off and more leather and some woody flavors have come to the front of the flavor profile. With the peppery spice mostly gone, a more exotic spice flavor has shown up. This is more like cinnamon with a little sweetness on the finish. As I reach the final third I would put this as a solid medium bodied cigar. The burn has evened out nicely and hasn't required any touchups after the first few inches. In th final inch I have noticed a faint dried cherry flavor that I get out of a lot of Illusione cigars, but it is no where as noticable in this Esencia like it is in the Illusione line. 

The Esencia Lancero was a pretty tasty smoke! Not a lot of shops around me carry these but I could see myself trying some of the other sizes out since the lancero isn't one that is readily available. As I already said, these definitely remind me of Illusione on some levels. I think overall I prefer Illusione but this is different enough to make me want to smoke it again.