Esencia Corona Gorda 5 5/8x46
LTD 2008
FILLER: Nicaragua
BINDER: Nicaragua
WRAPPER: Nicaragua
Esencia is the attribute or set of attributes that make an object what it is fundamentally.
Esencia is a completely handmade medium to full bodied Nicaraguan puro cigar available in four classic Cuban sizes. Each has been crafted in an old world Havana style using a traditional blend of Criollo and Corojo leaf of only the highest quality. Production of the Esencia is limited to the availability of the very best in raw materials.
Made by the BOTL behind personal favorite cutter Palio.
(Marc being my main contact there)
When speaking to the manufacturer, he said that they were going for the pre-1995 Habano flavor-profile. (According the education I recieved - This was before they began blending their cigars more "for the masses", thereby limiting the amount of ligero and leaves of criollo and corojo in the blends, making them somewhat more palatable for the average smoker. (I personally find many cc marcas do not differ from each other in their flavor profiles) Also they had to compete with blue-mold, so had to create differing tobaccos, blend etc. to keep up with production.) So the makers of Esencia tried to harken back to the previous blend of a Habano.
Anyway, the creators of Esencia definitely created a med-full bodied smoke, without skimping on the flavor. The appearance was beautiful - classic Cuban construct - triple seam cap, nice brown colorado wrapper.
(click pics to enlarge)
The pre-light aromas were at first very similiar to a Padron x000, but with some sweetness. delicious.
The initial light was very even creating a pepper colored ash that held very nicely. There was not the initial spicy-ness of a DPG, but imediately recalled the charred-taste of a Tatuaje Black, yet this was little more mellow and developed into that great sweet graham cracker taste I really enjoy.
As I began to enter the second third of the cigar the flavors started to really pick up and realized while balanced, this cigar was had a nice complexity that kept me guessing. I could identify a lot of different flavors that I enjoy. Some good tobacco, slight choco/expresso... great through the nose.
However, when I got the half-way point it needed some touch-ups and even a relight. To be fare, I only smoked 2 of these cigars, ever. The second one burned PERFECTLY throughout, leaving a beautiful solid pepper ash that only fell off cause I wanted it to, each time revealing more flavor. Very elegant.
The complexity died down a little after the midway point and picked up significantly towards the nub, which I did not want to go out. It had developed a full-bodied character and had a nice long finish that stayed with me.
This cigar was phenomenal. Elegant smoke, with complex flavors and could smoke one after the other. It recalled a Tat Black (robusto) and a fuller bodied CC. I really want to try different sizes in this blend, esp. Petite Corona and would definitely consider buying a box. One of the best "new" cigars I have had. Esencia got it right!!
Overall: out of 10
Flavor 10
Burn/Draw 9
Appearance 10
Construct 9
Value 10 (most CG's aren't cheap because they come from premium brands, and are smaller smokes, so this is relative)
Smoking Experience 10
Total Avg. 9.67
(last pic on the next page)