Blind Cigar Review: Epic | Corojo Reserva Double Corona

We received such great feedback from readers and the participants of our inaugural series of collaboration reviews that it was a no brainer that we would continue with another round. In this second round of collaboration reviews, you will see some of the participants from the first round returning, as well as some new participants. For new readers who are unfamiliar with our previous collaboration reviews, we have invited cigar reviewers from other cigar review sites, podcasts, blogs, etc. to join the Blind Man’s Puff staff in doing blind reviews using our format. This collaboration review is with Seth from Seth’s Humidor, Jordan from Cigar Dojo, Rob from Cigar Federation and Paul from Stogie Geeks.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Double Corona
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo
Binder: Dominican Piloto Cubano
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Factory: Charles Fairmorn
Blender: Dean Parsons
Number of reviewers: 5—–Seth (Seth’s Humidor) Jordan (Cigar Dojo) Rob (Cigar Federation) Robert (NavyPiper) Paul A (Stogie Geeks)
Price: $7.50
Age: 5 Months
Release Date: February 2014
Contributed by: Epic Cigars

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 87

“Nothing special about the appearance here. The wrapper is a deep, marbled brown and is rather veiny. The wrapper is rather oily and feels good in the hand. The cap application is a little rough, but I can’t say that I really care about that.” –Rob (Cigar Federation)

Aroma: 88

“Faint tobacco notes. Bits of leather and hay. Very little spice with some earthy qualities.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

First Third

Flavor: 92
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium

“Starts of with a nice creaminess and a fairly long finish. There is only the faintest hint of pepper spice in the retrohale. The profile is well-balanced with notes of cedar, earth and a Cubanesque muskiness. Occasionally, there are slightly bitter notes with a sharp pepper backdrop, this is only noticeable when the cigar heats up.” –Jordan (Cigar Dojo)

“Nice smooth flavors! Consistent medium-body smoke in the first third. There was a touch of pepper up front, but smoothed out after a few puffs. The draw and burn are excellent. I can’t place the flavors, other than to say they are in the nutty flavor profile, very enjoyable so far.” –Paul A (Stogie Geeks)

Second Third

Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“The second third is beginning to show some more spicy notes and it has some definite wood and leather notes. There are some earthy qualities as well, and it has this salty wood quality present as well.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

“Much to my delight, the strength of flavor picked up a bit in the second third. The creamy cedar notes remained along with the white pepper on the retohale. There was a mild caramel-like sweetness that showed up to add another layer of flavor. The overall profile took on a “musky” flavor that I associate with Dominican tobacco and I enjoyed that immensely.” –Rob (Cigar Federation)

Final Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“Campfire smokiness! We all secretly love the smell on our clothes after a backyard bonfire – that’s the vibe this third begins with. The flavors are full-forced now, bringing notes of chocolate with anise, tanginess and finally, a good kick of spice in the retrohale. Also, maybe I’m reaching here, but there is a hint of coconut oil… I’m really digging the darker complexities developing in this third – the strength has also ramped up significantly, especially when considering where it started. Final flavors are toasty, charred, vegetation and that lovely Cuban musk.” –Jordan (Cigar Dojo)

“Final third went full strength. Still pepper, cedar, campfire smoke and a little spice. Very creamy smoke. Draw is still good, burn very crooked now and I was having difficulty keeping it lit. Had to re-light twice. It was a powerhouse to the end.” –Robert (NavyPiper)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 96

“The draw on this cigar was great, no draw issues what-so-ever.” –Paul A (Stogie Geeks)

Burn: 88

“Burn was fair. Started getting goofy in the second third, and just kept getting worse despite touch ups.” –Robert (NavyPiper)

Construction: 90

“Great construction, nothing to complain about.” –Jordan (Cigar Dojo)

Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Overall Experience: 90

“Disappointed with this cigar. Flavors were fairly one dimensional and did not grow. Grew in strength and body though, which was nice.” –Seth (Seth’s Humidor)

“This smoke was right in my flavor wheelhouse. I enjoyed the mild and creamy start more than the darker finish, and the mid point was a perfect balance of the two. The cigar evolved enough to keep me interested, though never straying too far from its core flavor base. There was also a satisfying amount of flavorful smoke on each puff, not requiring double puffs, which was very much appreciated – would not hesitate to smoke another.” –Jordan (Cigar Dojo)

“I found 2/3 of this cigar to be exceptionally enjoyable. The final third was a letdown, but I would want to smoke a few more of these to see if that is a consistent transition or not. Being that cigars are handmade products sometimes funky things can happen. I would be very curious to see if the “spice attack” was a one-time occurrence or a consistent transition. Either way, the bulk of this cigar was fantastic.” –Rob (Cigar Federation)

“I thought this was a great stogie. What brought down the rating was its irreparable burn, and that it kept tending to go out. Other than that, it was really good. Definitely a stogie to be slowly savored with short puffs. Very strong, but very enjoyable.” –Robert (NavyPiper)

“This cigar in the first two thirds was very good. I enjoyed the transition from the nutty flavors into some wood notes and richness. Unfortunately, this cigar did not perform well in the final third, almost harsh on the palate. I believe age will be kind to this cigar, perhaps improving the performance in the final third. I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to the finish of the cigar, it has to finish strong to rate well. On the upside though, if age can smooth out the transitions, this will be a great cigar.” –Paul A (Stogie Geeks)
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Smoking Time (in minutes): 107

Edit

Reviewer	Appearance	Aroma	1/3	2/3	3/3	Draw	Burn	Constr.	Overall
Seth	87	88	88	88	88	90	85	85	85
Jordan	85	85	92	95	90	97	92	95	95
Rob	87	90	92	92	88	95	90	90	90
Robert	87	88	90	90	90	95	85	88	90
Paul A	92	88	95	90	88	95	85	90	90

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.
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Blind Cigar Review: Epic | Corojo Reserva Double Corona