Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda is medium brown, with lightly raised veins and some tooth. The seams are smooth and the head is well finished with a bit of a stump. The band is black, gold and white with the line name on front and the company name on back. The aroma from the wrapper is rich earth, bakers chocolate and a bit of wood while the foot brings a distinct plum sweetness along with some cedar. The pre-light draw brings floral soapiness and some cedar along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: The Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda is finished with a near Oscuro wrapper, it is jet black. Black coffee in coloring. Small to medium sized veins throughout. Love the finish on the cap. I don’t know how to classify it. The cigar has aromas of licorice, rich earth and dark spices on the wrapper. Foot has aromas of cocoa, rich earth and spices. Rough texture with medium sized veins.
John: The Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker located on the main body of the cellophane which included the cigar information. For artisanal complications, the cigar has a fan tail tap with the fan portion removed. There is a single Orthodox band in metallic gold on a black background. I weighed the cigar at 11.9 grams and measured the humidity at 64.3% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included coffee, molasses, earth and wood. From the foot, I was picking up sweet raisin, earth and tobacco.

Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a heavy mix of toasted oak, earth and black pepper. At a half inch in, some light creaminess joins the profile as the oak and earth have mellowed a bit, but the black pepper is still pretty bold and with a long finish. The retrohale is toasted oak, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is just ahead of the earth and black pepper with some light creaminess in the background. The strength was slightly above medium.
Seth: The first third opens with licorice, rich earth and leather notes. There is strong tobacco, as well as red and black pepper present. Bits of cocoa powder with a medium-full strength and body level.
John: Earth and tobacco combine to start the first third with baking spices following and the finish consisting of a cinnamon and earth mix. Sharp wood is on a short delay on the finish. As the first third continues, dark coffee is present on the retrohale. A general malty sweetness begins to settle underneath all the flavor components as the first third settles in. Mild leather joins the post draw as it continues. By the halfway point, the profile is a malty sweet start, medium spices to follow and earth finishing.

Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth becomes even with the toasted oak up front as the black pepper mellows. At a half inch in, the overall profile is now pretty smooth as the creaminess increases a bit. The retrohale is now toasted oak, earth and light creaminess. At an inch in, the black pepper has departed. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak and earth are even up front, with the creaminess a fair bit behind. The strength dropped down to medium.
Seth: The second third opens some and I am getting some coffee and cocoa notes on top of that licorice, rich earth and leather profile. You can still get that tobacco and black pepper spice in this third. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Creamy earth at medium strength gets the second third going as spices follow into the finish and move up to medium-full on the post draw after a few puffs. A buttered popcorn is present on the retrohale as the cigar progresses. By the halfway point, spices have receded to medium strength with a spice and earth combination defining the post draw.

Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth takes a slight lead over the toasted oak. At a quarter inch in, some smokiness becomes present. The retrohale remains toasted oak, earth and light creaminess. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is slightly ahead of the toasted oak, with smokiness in the middle and light creaminess in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third delivers rich earth with coffee, cocoa and licorice notes. Bits of red and black pepper, leather and tobacco. Wonderful finish. No mineral qualities, just rich and filling. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: Sweet tobacco leads off here, earth and spices make up the center with earth and wood pushing into the finish. As the cigar continues towards the halfway point, earth completely defines the post draw. In the bottom half, the flavor delivery is largely tobacco and earth.

Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout and required a touch-up to keep things burning along. The cigar also went out once in the second third, requiring a re-light.
Seth: The burn from beginning to end was perfect.
John: The burn was straight all the way through the review process.

Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw from beginning to end was perfect.
John: The draw was somewhat into the resistant spectrum, roughly 2-1/2 to 3 notches. That puts it at a good score for draw.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a heavy mix of toasted oak, earth and black pepper. Some creaminess joined in a bit later. The second third saw the black pepper mellow and then depart. The final third saw the earth take a slight lead in the profile and some smokiness join in. The Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda had a nice profile through the first two thirds where it started out bold and then mellowed. The final third took a step back as the earth took the lead and the profile wasn’t as dynamic. This is another rare, nice Mexican wrapped offering that provides a good profile. There is some strength initially, but dials it back to let the flavors shine. I’d be up for coming back to this and trying the other vitolas.
Seth: This Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda was a wonderful cigar and a fantastic corona gorda. It was balanced, rich and flavorful. We’ve been smoking a lot of Mexican offerings, but none like this. It delivered the rich earth and cocoa qualities, but lots of strong earth, spices and wood as well. Great burn and draw. You could make an argument that the appearance of the cigar is a little much, but it is also in line with what BLTC has released. Yes, I will smoke again. Yes, I will pass GO. Yes, I will collect $200.00.
John: The Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda had a promising start with darker flavor notes that I’ve come to expect from Black Label Trading Co. releases. The second third seemed to step down in complexity with the profile becoming more earth driven, and by the last third I found it to be fairly flat with earth taking over. The burn was perfect while the draw was somewhat into the resistant spectrum. I had the good fortune to smoke one of these at the PCA 2024 trade show in Las Vegas and I thought it was fairly good at the time. In general, the majority of what comes out of BLTC and Black Works Studio end up being cigars I’d smoke, so I’m likely going to give this cigar another shot despite the overall experience rating. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 44 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.52

Cost/Point

$1.92

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

7.17

Cost/Point

$1.74

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$2.16

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Black Label Trading Co. Orthodox Corona Gorda