H. Upmann Coronas Major Tubo Review (dominican)

This is my first review ever, so it might not be very well done...
But you have to start somewhere !


H. Upmann Coronas Major Tubo


Origin : Dominican Republic
Format : Corona
Size : 5 1/2 X 42
Wrapper : Indonesian TBN Select Shade grown
Binder : Dominican
Filler : Dominican and Brazilian
Paid 8 USD at Bahia Principe Ambar in Punta Cana (paid too much...)

I had not smoked a cigar in about 2 or 3 weeks and I was happy to have the time yesterday to do so. But since I won't smoke in the house and it's still winter and it was about 5 Celsius, I decided to smoke in our sun room with 3 patio doors open and with my old winter coat I wear when I use the snow blower. It was comfortable for the first 30 minutes and then I got a bit cold, but I wanted to finish that cigar.

Pre-light

This cigar has a nice wrapper with fine veins and a double cap (maybe triple...). Construction is good, the density is pretty uniform.

This cigar has been in my humidor for about 6 weeks, out of it's tube.

The wrapper didn't smell like anything special and the foot had a regular tobacco smell to it.

Pre-light draw was a bit tight and again only gave off a nice tobacco taste.

First third

It lit easily and the burn was very even until the end. The draw stayed the same from pre-light to the end.The first few puffs didn't have much flavor, it took maybe 6 or 7 to show something. Yet again nothing more than tobacco notes with a slight bitterness in the back of the tongue.

After a while, some medium coffee notes started to appear.

The ash held on for about 1 1/4 inch and then fell on the table without me noticing.

Second third

The tobacco taste intensified as well as the coffee which became espresso like. The bitterness became a bit stronger and by the end of this section, a bit of black licorice started to appear. The ash fell off at the same length as before.

Last third

Within 3 or 4 puffs, a bitter almond flavor was really noticeable and was interesting, but the harshness/bitterness of the tobacco that was intense at that point made my enjoyment of this cigar go down to zero. I had to put it out about 3/4" to the the band. By that time, I also had a good nicotine buzz that I didn't enjoy, I even was a bit nauseous.

Even though it took me an hour to finish it, I think I smoked it too fast because I was getting cold and I wanted to go inside the house and that might have contributed to the last third not being as good as it could have been.

Overall it was an ok smoke but I guess it would have been a lot better if the smoking conditions were easier on me. I would rate it medium but full by the end. For now, I'm going to give it 2,5/5 stars but I have a second stick in my humidor and plan to smoke it this summer to see if it's any better.

And on to the next smoke !