A nice, dark brown toothy wrapper that is light in weight with a soft spot in the middle leads this one into the flame first of the 4 I have left. I read where some people believe this is the same wrapper used on the La Riqueza. It doesn't look like it to me.
An easy draw with barely enough resistance leads into light, creamy mocha flavors with a touch of graham cracker. A nice light body with very pleasant flavors and no pepper, but some type of light sweet spiciness keeping it interesting. There is a wide range of flavors going on here with a yummy finish and great aroma. Not too sweet with a nice tobacco taste on the lips but no tingle.
At this point the flavors move in and out of the palatte vying for attention depending on the time between puffs and the strength of the puff. A lightly burnt toast quality is emerging. The stick encourages long slow pulls with its slightly sweet, complex flavors inviting deeper inspection, with smoke that just wants to stay in your mouth.
This stick fooled me when the first ash fell at over 2" the second ash hit the soft spot and fell at 1". The perfect burn wandered a tiny bit but stayed fairly even with no touch-ups even considered. Now the stick is losing it's complexity and showing a nice light smooth, tobacco smokey flavor with ample smoke. At the 1/2 way point it is moving towards medium body & strength (but doesn't ever quite get there). With slow draws and over 1 minute between pulls that nice light complexity is back in the background of the slightly rich, tobacco and earth flavors. Harder draws bring out the coffee and wood flavors with lingering spice (not pepper).
The last third turned this stick into Mr. Hyde where even a soft draw yields mocha and wood flavors with no complexity and a bit of heat. It kept getting hotter and I kept smoking slower and softer. The smoke is so much less interesting I am having more fun taking pictures than smoking this thing.
I finally quit without being tempted to nub this one very far.
Conclusion: A very exciting, complex stick with many wonderful light flavors from the beginning that turn into an unispired two dimensional stick that I couldn't wait to finish. I'm not a fan of the Cabaiguan line in general, but this maduro wrapper really seems to take the light blend to new heights mixing in the darker, sweeter flavors with the nice light cabaiguan blend. I hope the second half of this stick was just an anomaly of the bad rolling and the rest will prove to be better.
rating: 1st half A+
2nd half C
08-16-2008, 02:33 PM
Cabaiguan Maduro Corona Gorda Review
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