Antonio Benitez Maduro Corona
P. Benitez Cigars has been around for a few years out of the region of Jalapa Valley and Estelà Nicaragua. Their Cuban seed, Habana Criollo tobacco is rolled in their factory in Managua, Nicaragua. The Antonio Benitez is the second blend from said factory. It was blended by Pedro Benitez and his son, Reynold in honor of Benitez’s first grandson, Reynold Antonio.
Vitola: Corona
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo
Filler: Nicaraguan Criollo
Source: Sample
First Look: A very prominent “A” sticks out in gold on the band against a dark brown habano maduro wrapper leaf. A nicely applied double cap covers the fairly firm feeling cigar. The firm feel also relates to the firm draw that is slightly more than milkshake thick. Cold draw reveals dark chocolate/cocoa and hay tastes. The foot has a woody and dark chocolate aroma to it that is fairly pleasant to the senses.
Construction: Overall, it had a fairly thick draw, but not enough to put it down or give me a headache. The burn had a slight curve to it and produced a tight ringed off-white ash, which held for about an inch or so. Even though it had a thick draw, it still produced a good amount of dense smoke that had a peppery room note. A seasoned cigar enjoyer would like the room note, but could see where a nonsmoker or novice could see it being overbearing in strength. Me, I liked the room note alot.
Flavors: Notes of charred meat with a slight “twang” on the tongue are the first thoughts of the smoke. Nice and dark flavors which alot of people have came to like.The dark wrapper color goes hand & hand with the dark flavors I get at the start. When I say dark, you would think the flavors or overly bold and harsh. But that is not the case one bit. Working into it more, notes of black pepper start to compliment the dark charred meat notes. Its like I was smoking a smoked pepper rubbed steak. The farther I got into it, the black pepper seemed to ramp up in strength.
Around a 1/3 into it, some dark espresso flavors seem to take over some. But the black pepper tastes are still present. Through out the cigar, the meaty, peppery, and espresso notes bounce all over my palate. I really enjoyed the complexity of the smoke. It is not too complex to where the point of you getting a nice flavor you like, then quickly changing to another flavor. I like a nice complex smoke, but not too complex to where you loose track of a good flavor in the complexity.
The last part of the cigar stayed pretty much the same as the middle portion. Meaty and peppery, yet also seemed to mellow off some in flavor strength and body. At the very end, the black pepper seemed to drop off almost all together and changed into a toast note. That was completely unexpected!
Final Thoughts:Â I really liked this cigar alot. The one dislike was the thicker draw. I liked the mix of espresso, charred meat, and black pepper notes. It was like I was having espresso with my steak dinner. A fairly complex smoke thats produced a peppery room note. Later on, I will review the same cigar in a 6×60 size to see how the size affects the flavors. So keep your eyes pealed for it’s review in the next few weeks.
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I love that little Corona! Ive been smoking those in bunches lately..