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Punch "Rare Corojo"

Alec Bradley "Prensado"

Caldwell Cigar Co. "Long Live the King"

Initial Smoke

Well, pass the popcorn and pour on the salt-n-butter, because it's party time ya'll. That bucket of freshly popped fun may be an unexpected early addition, but when all of the spurts of corojo citrus and spice, black tea tastes, and fantastic fruity retrohales begin, it all makes sense. But those nasal blasts are also spicier than a bowl of habanero chutney at first, so be careful not to set your nose hairs ablaze while savoring those berry-like aromatics.

Eventually, things settle into a more medium, savory spice profile, and as the sweetness of the tobacco blend grows, a taste that reminds me of a sweet and fiery barbecue dry rub settles into the back of my mind. The draw might be a be a touch tight, but the smoke's texture is excellent, and both aromatics and body seem well-balanced as they rapidly ascend toward medium. 

1st Half

Drier and darker, the first third's flavor profiles cut back on the fiery heat, allowing you to venture into maduro waters for the first time. There's a touch of cocoa powder and a pinch of soil, but it's all secondary to the tastes of half-toasted walnuts and dank, medium-spiced tea cake. There's also a complex floral note that, like that walnut flavor, is somewhere between dehydrated and raw. Unique, intriguing, and incredibly aromatic, this bouquet of flowery scents is astoundingly good, and makes for the most memorable component in the first third. 

Sappy cedar and a milky, nutty note seem to turn the ship in a different direction for a moment there, as the first third moves into the second. But this move is short-lived, and gradually, a shift toward more of a savory, spice-oriented curry, or better yet, a mole sauce note materializes. Sweet and smoky, yet also spicy, fruity, and dark, this saucy transition pushes the palate toward a far more earthen, maduro-made mid-section. 

2nd Half

Still incredibly savory and gradually growing stronger, the second half starts with a more grounded, soil- and sappy cedar start. Burn your way beyond the center of the barrel, and the body of the smoke slides right into medium mode, and things only get more intense from there. 

Here, the cigar is not very corojo-like at all, opting to give you this funky chocolate and honey concoction instead. Notes of nutmeg and more dry rub sift in and out, with spiced dark fruits taking up the slack. As the buttery flavor of popcorn pushes forth once more, spicy cedar starts to show itself again too. The resinous note's return eventually reignites the corojo side of the wrapper once more, and before long the cigar starts to hit medium-plus in flavor potency and strength.

Parting Puffs

Unexpectedly herbal, darker, soil-strong, and a touch funky once again, the final fifteen minutes of this blend are pretty damn big. Spice notes wash over every exhale, and as they do, the balance between maduro and corojo becomes a truly 50/50 smoking experience. Grounded and oily, but also floral and spicy, with a twist of tea and citrus spinning into a bittersweet backing that is chewy and milky, everything within the cigar that has been tasted or smelled prior hits all at once right before you tap out. 

It all may be a tad overwhelming to some, and confusing to others, but it's also what we all signed up for when we decided to spark this stick. Making things seem even more intense is the continuous coating of nicotine that blankets the brain, and the lasting effects it has upon the senses as you attempt to make heads or tails of it all.  

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

Although there were some sharp burn spikes in sections, where the wrapper did not want to keep pace with its internals, a quick roll and removal of the ash soon returned this blend to its original state. Ultimately, this led to zero torch corrections, and a fairly favorable overall performance scorecard. The ash did lean like all hell in the first half, and clean combustion from that tight draw was a consideration that could not be ignored, but there was never a major issue. Smoke textures were also very good, with a slow shift upward in body topping out just short of full in parting puffs. 

Final Thoughts

All of you out there who enjoyed the first installment in this corojo line from Esteban Carreras will likely lean toward this blend for when it comes time for after-dinner smoke sessions. While the original blend certainly hits the spot as a sort of "anytime smoke," this darker, oilier, stronger maduro version is not something to be taken so lightly. 

It still loads you up with a lot of those same citrusy, tea, and spice corojo flavors we all want, but it also hits harder and deeper than one might expect. Magnitude levels are high with this one, and thankfully, transitions roll around in a fairly orderly fashion. Some may feel that the maduro side is too strong at times, but I feel that if it were not, we would be left with little more than a slightly different version of the original.

So yes, this maduro option is vastly different than its all Nicaraguan kin in many ways, while still keeping that spicy, tangy, black tea concoction on the tongue for much of the time. Having aged my review cigar for nearly two years, I can say that some extra downtime in the humidor is only going to make the blend better. The trick is getting a hold of it in the first place, because it certainly is an uncommon smoke that isn't always readily available.