Another installment of my Blend Lab cigar tastings. I picked 3 different blends that sounded good and ordered a few sticks. This one is wrapped in a dark Costa Rican maduro leaf that looks shiny and flawless. I enjoyed a total of 3 of these 5×44 coronas. This vitola has a Jalapa binder and filler from DR, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The prelight scent is the typical woody, earthy aroma one gets from maduros. The construction appears to be excellent. It lights up quickly and begins to burn evenly. The initial notes are a bit of pepper with oak, unsweetened chocolate and roasted coffee beans.
As I progressed through this cigar I noticed that like the previous Blend Lab cigar I tried this one was fairly straightforward in flavor. There really wasn’t any evolution or change. These are earthy and dank which tells me there’s a healthy dose of Honduran tobacco inside. Body and mouthfeel did increase during the first third, but notes remained the same. On the last third the flavors got bitter.
Some say these are test cigars, others say they are cleverly marketed 2nds. I say this one might be a 5 Vegas ‘A’ corona. Try one and compare and tell me it’s not awfully similar. I may be wrong but these are close. Not a bad cigar for about $5.
