Age: The box dates from August 2003. It had spent a month in my humidor.
The winter has now begun in Helsinki, with temperatures around freezing. Unfortunately, we have had practically no snow yet except for one glorious weekend. It is sorely missed: snow on the ground will make the darkness much more bearable, as it reflects the little light we have this time of the year (sunrise at 9, sunset at 3.20). Within these parameters, it was nevertheless a nice cool and clear early winter day, so I went to downtown for some Christmas shopping. To reward myself for this, I also took one of the recently bought Juan Lopez Corona Gordas along in a cigar tube that proved extremely handy for the purpose. After exhausting my gift ideas (and myself), I went to the very cigar-friendly Strindberg's restaurant to enjoy a well-earned moment of respite with their quite excellent latte and the cigar. (The place is a must visit for cigar smokers in Helsinki: the upstairs area is well equipped in private club style with bookshelves and comfy chairs, and of course they have all drinks one may desire with a good cigar.)
The first thing that struck me as I originally opened the cabinet and inspected the cigars was the colour of the wrapper: these are amongst the darkest Habanos that I have so far seen. Tiny particles of bloom reflected light nicely all over the surface of the chosen sample. The cigar gave the impression of a very solid and high quality workmanship, with a expertly made triple cap. It felt firm, with just a little resilience, and emitted a strong barnyard odour. I clipped the cigar effortlessly and tried the draw which proved to be just perfectly resistive and gave hints of honey over pure tobacco flavour. The cigar lighted easily, and burned perfectly through the entire smoking session.
The story of this cigar is a story of flavour: it is certainly not a power-horse, and may not appeal to smokers who prefer stronger cigars. Initially I sensed nice nuttiness over light pure tobacco; later this was replaced by a sweetish flavour that reminded me of coughing medicine that I had as a child: camphor and honey? This was on top of very nice and balanced tobacco taste, the bitterness of which blended quite nicely with the overtone. The intensiveness of the tobacco increased gradually towards the end, never becoming harsh or overpowering.
All in all, the cigar gave me a very pleasant 90 minutes rest in style, smoking and sitting comfortably in the lobby of the restaurant, browsing a book I had just bought from the Academic Bookstore next door, sipping my coffee, and watching other people (well, mainly ladies) coming in from the cold with full shopping bags. I felt at ease with myself and the world. The moment and the cigar proved a perfect pairing.
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