Vitola de Galera:  Corona Gorda
Vitola de Salida:  Serie A.
Shape: Parejo
Body: Round
Dimensions:  46 RG /  5 1/2 inches
Presentation: Cabinet / 50’s
Vintage:  June 2010 / LRE
Age When Tasted:  4 yrs, 9 months

 

The cabinet of 50 / slide lid box is the way to go with this cigar.

I love to slide the lid off, gently lift the bundle by the waxed paper and admire the perfectly round, symmetrical beauty of these wonderful cigars.  And then I like to inhale deeply at the foot of the bundle..rich, round and full bodied aromas mix with a slightly floral overtone.

Amazing.

There is much to love about the Saint Luis Rey brand.  Each of the 3 vitolas that are usually available are absolutely top notch.  And if you ever have the opportunity to get your hands on a cabinet of 50 of the Saint Luis Rey Prominente (Double Corona)-do it!!

Heaven.

What sets the Serie A. apart from many vitolas is its meatiness.    The aroma and flavor remind me of a tenderloin of beef cooked medium rare, with the juices running from it.

Toothsome.

Substantive…

You can taste the soil, the terroir–it lives on in this vitola, and permeates each draw with its essence.

This cigar really has a sense of place–and when I roll the smoke around my mouth I taste the plot of land in the Vuelta Abajo where the sun shown down day after day upon the plant during its maturation process.

I know this may sound a little over the top–but whatever–I feel it.

————-

The cigar I selected to taste has a taught, oily wrapper and the band is a little mottled from aging.  The color is a rich deep colorado and is lightly veined.  It is dense and well packed, but draw is just right.  The feel of the cigar in the hand is balanced (I really do enjoy the feeling of a Corona Gorda–its ring gauge and length really work well together).

The foot before lighting smells of earth, spice, the steak I mentioned, and it also has a light woodiness.

About 1/3 of the way in, the ash is a nice grey-white, and it is a nice and even burn.  Everything looks good–volado dead center–an ever-so-slight cone emerges at the center of the ash.  A lot of love went in to the fabrication of this cigar–one of the benefits of a limited production cigar.

Lots of smoke.  Dense.  Rich.  I let it curl up in to my nostrils.

Some caramel and burnt sugar add to the mix of flavors of earth and spice, and it is very satisfying–very filling like a good meal.

Further in, the spice picks up a bit and the wrapper tastes sweeter in my mouth. The flavors still remain round and full, and they linger beautifully.  Not a hint of harshness.

As I approach the band, I am tempted to take it off just so I can get just a little more out of this cigar, but I think I’ve had just the right amount.

But it was tempting….

A parting note: as I mentioned, always go for the Cab of 50’s if you can with this vitola–I recently finished up a beautifully aged box of 25’s (I smoked them between 8 and 12 years of age on them) and although you can imagine they were delicious, they still can’t compete with what you get with an aged cabinet of 50’s.