Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela is between light and medium brown and has a couple of decently raised veins and a network of fine veins. The seams are smooth and the head is well finished with a twisted flag. There are two bands, with the primary being the traditional design for the company, and the secondary being white, denoting the series with the sub-line in gold script. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of hay and bread, while the foot brings what I would describe as a clean cedar note. The pre-light draw brings cedar, stone fruit sweetness and a mild spiciness.
John: The Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker that tears in half. There are two bands, with the primary Casa 1910 band and a secondary band in gold cursive on a white background indicating La Coronela. Additionally, the cigar has an artisanal complication of a twisted fan cap. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet bread and faint, dry wood. From the foot, there was sweet hay, tobacco, bread and a background note of musty tobacco.

Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar, baking spice and earth. At a half inch in, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar. At three quarters of an inch in, the baking spice has transitioned to black pepper. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At an inch in, a light chalkiness becomes present. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar remains slightly ahead of the earth, with black pepper in the middle and light chalkiness in the background. The strength was slightly above medium.
John: My first few puffs delivered flavors of sweet bread and wood. The wood is light on the palate through the post draw finish. A rich stewed fruit comes into the retrohale, and bread joins it a few retrohales later. As the first third settles in, a light-plus baking spice settles on the tip of my tongue. Some time later, a fruit and wood sweetness combine through the center of the profile.

Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the chalkiness increases a bit. At a half inch in, the earth is now even with the toasted cedar up front. The retrohale remains toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with the black pepper a fair bit behind and chalkiness a bit behind it. The strength remained at slightly above medium.
John: Spices start things off here at light-plus, combining with bread as wood takes up the center and evolves to gain some dryness on the finish. Mild, sweet chocolate moves into the retrohale and is balanced by some tannic wood. Stewed fruit sweetness returns to the center of the profile as it continues.

Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela

Final Third

Aaron: The final third begins as just a continuation of the second. At a half inch in, the toast level increases. The retrohale remains toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At an inch in, the toast becomes pretty heavy with a long finish. At an inch and a quarter, a vegetal note joins the profile. As the cigar wraps up, the heavily toasted cedar and earth are even up front, with black pepper and vegetal note a bit behind and light chalkiness in the background. The strength bumped up to medium-full.
John: Creamy earth and wood greet me in the last third, with some mild charred wood on the finish. Bitter char moves into the center of the profile as it settles in. After a number of puffs, the bitter char fades away, replaced with dry wood. The retrohale takes on creamy baking spices with wood on the finish moving to the halfway point. Fruit sweetness returns to the center of the profile in the bottom half, but shortly after the bitter char also returns.

Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout and required one touch-up to keep everything burning in unison. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
John: The burn was relatively straight for the first third, becoming uneven in the second third. A tunnel developed in the second third, along with a portion of wrapper not combusting. A touch-up was necessary to correct.

Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
John: The draw had some resistance to it, roughly 1-1/2 to 2 notches into the resistant spectrum.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar, baking spice and earth. The baking spice transitioned to black pepper a bit later. Some chalkiness joined in after. The second third saw the toasted cedar and earth become even. The final third saw the toast level become heavy and a vegetal note join in. The Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela was pretty consistent through the first two thirds and then fell off a bit in the final third as the toast became heavy, vegetal note joined in and the strength picked up. Overall, not as interesting as the previous two versions in this edition and not a cigar I’d see myself returning to.
John: The Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela delivered some enjoyable flavors, and at times seemed to highlight the Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper with dark fruit notes. The last third did its best to deliver a similar profile, but it wasn’t as balanced as the rest of the cigar. The draw was a minor amount towards the snug spectrum, and the burn required a touch-up due to a combination of a tunnel and a portion of wrapper not burning. This is one of the top Casa 1910’s I’ve smoked, and I’d be interested in trying another to see if the last third would improve without a combustion issue. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 19 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.05

Cost/Point

$3.96

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.47

Cost/Point

$3.09

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Casa 1910 Soldadera Edition La Coronela