Cohiba Coronas Especiales Prelight
Cohiba, which comes from the Taino word for “tobacco,” was officially formed in 1966. The original Cohiba was a lancero blend that a torcedor offered to Fidel Castro in 1963. Fidel immediately fell in love with the flavor profile. In 1967, Cohiba launched with three vitolas, some proper bands, and packaging.
The Coronas Especiales debuted in 1967 in the Laguito No. 2 vitola. The dimensions of the cigar are 6″ x 38. The blend is made up of the best available tobaccos from the Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba for the binder, filler, and wrapper. Cohiba also receives an exclusive third fermentation for the Seco and Ligero filler leaves.
The wrapper is a reddish brown with a light oily sheen. The finishing touches are very nice with a short pigtail and a triple cap. The aromas are of sweet natural tobacco and spiced rum. The draw is very snug, almost plugged, with notes of barnyard.
Cohiba Coronas Especiales First Third
The Coronas Especiales begin with mild to medium smoke output. The palate is showing mineral-rich earth, almond, old wood, and hay. The notes on the retrohale are light and sweet coffee, milk chocolate, cedar, molasses, and a tingle of white pepper. The strength of flavor is medium.
The finish is medium with notes of coffee bean. The draw is still too tight, which is leading to combustion issues. The cigar needed a touch-up barely an inch into the smoke, and the ash is flaky. The overall profile is complex, sweet, and toasty, but the construction issues are severely impacting the experience.
Cohiba Coronas Especiales Second Third
The plate notes are mineral-rich earth, grass, hay, and old wood. The retrohale has tones of sweet and light coffee, vanilla, milk chocolate, and toasted almond. The strength of flavor has increased to medium plus. The smoke output remains at medium. The finish remains at medium with notes of coffee and hay. The construction is still having some trouble, but it’s an improvement from the first third. The ash is flaky, the burn line is uneven, and the cigar required an additional touch-up. The overall profile is sweet on the retrohale and grassy on the palate, with some excellent transitions.
Cohiba Coronas Especiales Final Third
The palate notes are showing mineral-rich earth, salted peanut, hay, and rum cask. The retrohale notes are coffee bean, milk, and dark chocolate, and a mix of toasted nuts. The strength of flavor remains medium plus. The smoke output has increased to medium plus. The finish is medium with notes of coffee bean and cedar. The construction has taken another turn for the worse. The cigar went out on me once with the same issues from the two prior thirds—a litany of combustion issues, flaky ash, and some more touch-ups. The overall profile is lacking the sweetness of the prior thirds, but the transitions continue to impress. Past the band, the sweetness continued to disipate, with the emphasis landing on earth and minerality.
Cohiba Coronas Especiales Conclusions
The Coronas Especiales showcases some of the best tobacco that Cuba has to offer. The transitions and flavors were fantastic, but the construction kept getting in the way. It’s a shame that the lack of care at the rolling table turned what should have been a stellar experience into a frustrating one. This cigar has a box code of EBP ABR 22. The box code indicates it was not rolled at the El Laguito factory, for what that may be worth. The cigars are not cheap, starting at around $60 and going as high as $90. While I’m sure that if I got lucky with a good box (or perhaps didn’t get unlucky?) I would be gushing about the Coronas Especiales. This cigar begs an important question: At this price point, is the abject lack of care or skill at the rolling table acceptable? My position is that it isn’t, and I will not be adding any more of the Coronas Especiales to my collection.
