Powstanie San Andrés Corona Gorda

Purchased: 3 Singles (5.5 X 46)
Price: $17.95 each
Store: West Coast Cigars, San Jose, CA
Buy Again: Yes
Box Worthy: Yes
Experience Rating: 96

I spent this past Wednesday afternoon at West Coast Cigars. As often happens when I’m there, I sit with Father Bob, one of the shop’s owners. It was a great afternoon spent working, and interspersed with great conversation about life, politics, technology, and of course, cigars.

Father Bob was on a roll on Wednesday. He recommended the wonderful Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial Connecticut, which I totally loved. Then, before I left, he handed me the Powstanie San Andrés and said, “I’d like you to try this one. I guarantee that once you try it, you’ll be back the next day to get some more.”

I had already had four cigars that day, so I didn’t try it until yesterday. But sure enough, Father Bob was right. I’m sitting here right now in the West Coast Cigars lounge on Friday, and I bought a couple more (along with another Jaime Garcia Connecticut). And I’m so impressed with the cigar that I thought I’d write about it.

This is a great-looking cigar. Though the wrapper is rustic, it’s beautifully rolled. No visible seams, and it’s wrapped tight. Tobacco is packed tightly in this stick. There are no soft spots nor unevenness in the roll.

Sniffing the wrapper and the foot revealed a treat of great aromas: a little barnyard, a fermented sourness (like sauerkraut), and a candy-like sweetness that reminded me of Sweet Tarts! That was a total surprise for me! As for the draw, it’s right in my wheelhouse with just the right amount of resistance.

I’m going to try something different in this review – and I think I’ll do this going forward – and that is I won’t break it down into thirds. But one of my motivations for taking this approach is that I don’t want this blog to be yet another review site. Yes, I want to share my insights, but on my terms and in a way that better aligns with my experience rating. And as I’ve shared, my experience rating isn’t based on numerical measurements of different traits. It’s more about how those traits come together and the quality of the ride they give me. This is a diary after all, and I want to take a different tack than a review site. So, without further ado, here goes…

This is one of the cleanest expressions of a San Andrés wrapper I’ve smoked in a while. It’s dark, structured, and disciplined without drifting into heaviness or mudiness. And the operative word for this cigar is structured, not in the sense that it’s limited, but in the sense that its progression is orderly and refined. There are no wild swings in the flavor profile, no dips and peaks. It just goes about its business, ensuring the smoker of consistent enjoyment throughout the smoke.

As far as the flavor profile is concerned, it’s built around a core of cacao, espresso, earth, light black pepper, a subtle red pepper spice, malt, and that classic San Andrés background sweetness, and a long, mineral finish. Owing to the refinement and structure, other flavors such as honey, roasted nuts, cedar, and occasional floral notes appear, but they arrive gently rather than acutely.

Further emphasizing the structure and refinement, the cigar evolves rather than shouts. It starts at medium and evolves into full-flavor by the final third, but amazingly enough, strength is kept at bay, going from a healthy medium to medium+ at most. And the kicker is that there’s nary a hint of nicotine. Just lovely!

Comparing it to other cigars with similar blends, it sits squarely between a DPG-style pepper cannon and a Te Amo earth bomb. It’s clean, darkly sweet, with refined clarity. In other words, there’s nothing aggressive about this smoke whatsoever. If you’ve got an hour-and-a-half to kill, I highly recommend this smoke. I purposely smoked this slowly to savor its structured and refined goodness!

I often speak of the journey a cigar will take me on. With this one, I’m in Bryan, Texas, at the West End Elixir Company, which is a craft cocktail lounge downtown. This is a classic old-school saloon with mahogany wood paneling. And at the back of the room, there’s an area for smoking cigars, with deep, plush leather seats to sink into while imbibing in a great cocktail and enjoying a great cigar. This stick transports me there.