Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is medium brown with a fair amount of slightly darker marbling. There are a few medium sized veins present but they are pretty smooth. The seams are visible but smooth as well while the head is finished off with what appears to be a quadruple cap. The band is pretty simple being primarily white with some black lettering and artwork along with a bit of red in the logo. The aroma from the wrapper is a mixture of hay and leather while the foot brings a mellow stone fruit sweetness and some masked white pepper spice. The pre-light draw brings a buttery leather with a slight spice on my lips.

Pre-light Experience

The Jeremy Jack JJ15 Corona Gorda has a fine sandpaper like medium brown wrapper shade with slight traces of oil content felt. Bunch and roll feels good as the cigar is packed full of tobacco and a firm give persists throughout. The head is finished off with a deep triple cap. Nosing the wrapper gives flowers, cedar and white pepper. Nosing the foot tells white pepper and mixed nuts. Cold draw reveals cedar, hay and white pepper.

First Third

Initial draws bring an intense baking spice along with some cedar. At a half inch in, the baking spice settles down some and lets the cedar shine a bit more. The retrohale is a very full cedar with baking spice finish. At an inch in, some light cream joins in to mellow out the cedar and spice notes for a good mixture. At an inch and a quarter, a slight vegetal note joins the creamy cedar while the baking spice note is just present on the finish. The retrohale is now a creamy cedar. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

First Third

First third’s flavor profile has sharp baking spices, creamy bread and dry wood. Retrohaling gives my nostrils quite a dose of sharp white pepper and baking spices, followed by mixed nuts. The finish has lingering notes of dirt, dry wood and a hint of white pepper on the rear palate. Strength and body is medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the creamy cedar continues on with a slight baking spice in the background. As the cigar continues, the baking spice note continually increases while the creamy cedar remains up front. At three quarters of an inch in, the cream begins to decrease, leaving the cedar up front and the cream and baking spice in the background. As the third comes to a close, the cedar remains up front with some cream and baking spice in the background. The strength in this third remained at slightly above medium.

Second Third

Second third shows a continuous spike in sharp baking spices. The profile also picks up a faint overlying harshness as well. The other notes of creamy bread and dry wood still remains. Retrohaling still gives sharp white pepper, baking spices and mixed nuts. The finish also picks up a faint harshness in addition to dirt and dry wood. Strength is moving towards medium-full while body maintains medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the cedar gains a spicy component as the cream also increases. At a half inch in, some mintiness enters as the cigar begins to heat up which drops the spice note from the cedar. There is quite a bit of creaminess in the profile as well. The retrohale is just a mild cedar note. As the cigar comes to a close, the cedar and mintiness remain up front along with a good dose of cream. The strength in this third bumped up to medium-full.

Final Third

The initial showing of the second third’s harshness continues to drive the last third’s flavor profile. Now, the profile becomes too harsh and bitter such that other notes are less identifiable. This bitter harshness is relayed on the finish as well. The best part of the last third is no doubt the retrohale, as the harshness is barely detected making it full of white pepper, sharp baking spices and mixed nuts. Strength moves to a consistent medium-full, while body stays medium.

Burn

The burn was slightly wavy the entire way. The only issue I ran into was that the cigar went out on me right around the middle and required a re-light. The ash held on in near inch and a half increments.

Burn

The only downside to the burn was the flaky ash and one re-light. Other than that, the burn line was fairly sharp and smoking temp was cool the entire time.

Draw

The draw was just slightly tighter than I prefer and didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

I was interested to try the cigars from this new brand and this Corojo offering didn’t disappoint. It brought some nice and full flavors. This is another good cigar coming from the TABSA factory. Performance was pretty good sans a single re-light. If you’re a fan of Corojo or Casa Fernandez, this cigar will be right at home with you and it has me eager to try the other lines. I would suggest checking out this brand. I’m looking forward to reviewing their other offerings.

Draw

Draw was also very good. Slightly tight but not a major hindrance to the flavors experienced.

Overall

This cigar no doubt has Aganorsa Corojo profile written all over it. Rich and deep spice, sweetness, earth, it’s all there. The only major difference is, the profile is a bit sharp for my liking. Further, the gradual build up of harshness and bitterness does leave the palate caked with a muddled finish. Nonetheless, love Jeremy Jack for sourcing their cigars from a top notch factory and quality tobacco. I’m very interested to taste the remaining offerings.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.47

Cost/Point

$1.13

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.57

Cost/Point

$1.11

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Jeremy Jack JJ15 Corona Gorda