-Tony

Last week I attended a Quesada event at one of my local shops, Stogies n Hops in Lynnwood, WA, where I had the pleasure of meeting Manuel “Manolo” Quesada.  Manuel is a terrific guy with a wealth of information about cigars, and a great conversationalist.  He even stayed way past the designated end of the event to smoke and socialize.  While I was there I picked up a handful of Quesada cigars, including the new Fonseca Nicaragua in the petite corona size.  He explained that the goal in making this cigar was to create the best quality Nicaraguan puro possible at an affordable price.  I contacted Terence Reilly at Quesada for more info, and he sent me the press release, which states:

“For the first time ever a Fonseca will be made in Nicaragua. This summer at IPCPR the Quesada family will release the Fonseca Nicaragua, a Nicaraguan Puro made by the Plasencia Family in Esteli. Adding to the well-established Dominican Fonseca, the Fonseca Nicaragua is blended with tobaccos from Ometepe, Jalapa, and Esteli to capture the full complexity of flavors found in the country. Nearly equally as impressive as the cigars themselves is the price: MSRP will range from $4.99 to $5.95.

Terence Reilly of Quesada Cigars says: “Because this is the first time we will make a Fonseca outside of the Dominican Republic we wanted it to create a special cigar that everyone can afford to smoke and so we approached this project with the concept of creating a $10-12 cigar for $4-6. The result is a complex, nuanced cigar that we believe will be the best value on the market”.

The Fonseca Nicaragua comes in 3 popular sizes: a 6 x 50 Toro that retails for $5.99, a 51/2 x 54

Robusto at $5.79 and a 5 x 42 Petite Corona at $4.95. They’re boxed in 20’s.”

I have to admit that Fonseca is not a brand that I tend to look for, and the only one I have smoked previously is the CXX 120^th Anniversary, which was a limited production line, but the intrigue of a Nicaraguan puro from Fonseca was too much for me to pass on.  So what do I think?  Well, let’s see…

The Basics:

Wrapper:  Nicaraguan
Binder:  Nicaraguan
Filler:  Nicaraguan
Size:  Petite Corona box pressed 5 x 42
Price:  $4.99 ($5.99 here in Washington)
Smoking time:  Fifty-five minutes
Pairing:  Mortal Kombat X Raiden Imperial Saison (Sound Brewery) ABV 8%

Pre-light:

The first thing that stands out about the Fonseca Nicaragua is the band.  Designed by a Dominican graffiti artist friend of Hostos Fernandez Quesada, it’s a big departure from the classic look of the core lines, being much more modern, while retaining traditional elements such as tobacco leaves and earth tones in the colors.  It also comes off cleanly and easily, and when I told Manolo how much I liked that, he noted how hard it was to convince the workers to make the change to the new glue.

The cigar itself sports a velvety dark brown wrapper with fine veins and a nearly seamless, firm roll, which gets just a bit softer as it nears the foot.  The wrapper has a tangy barnyard scent, while earthy tobacco shows off the foot along with a touch of spice.  A shallow snip of the cap gives a much snugger draw than I prefer, and a second clip opens it up a tad more.  Sweet tobacco shows on the cold draw, but not much else.

First third:

Although the draw is still rather stiff, the Fonseca Nicaragua has no problem producing a more than adequate mouthful of smoke.  Light earthiness and smoky oak surround the natural tobacco core.  While I feel no pepper bite at this point, there is a black pepper flavor hovering in the background.  The burn had started out at quite a slant, but by the 1” mark has almost completely evened itself out, with the ash dropping off at that point.  The draw has also opened up a bit, bringing a light sweetness and more pepper presence.

Middle third:

The Fonseca Nicaragua enters its middle third with the emergence of some savoriness as it moves north of medium in body.  The sweetness has dropped back and the smoky wood turns to a light char, then back again, as the pepper also moves up and then down.

Final third:

As the Fonseca Nicaragua petite corona winds down, the main flavors have remained consistent while moving up the scale in intensity.  The pepper is now much stronger, although not overboard, and the body has climbed into the medium-full range, while the strength is just above medium.  Bitter coffee and a little more of the char are evident as the cigar comes to an end.  I have not had to even think of touching it up or re-lighting it along the way.

Final thoughts:

Oops! I forgot that I did have a Fonseca Vintage at the event, so I do have that to go by, as well, and the Nicaragua is a definite step up in the body and strength departments.  I can’t view this as a particularly complex stick, but I did enjoy the flavors it had to offer and the way they moved around and ultimately intensified, and the construction was excellent.  I love this size, and the box press makes it even more comfortable to hold and smoke.  This one smoked pretty quickly, but that may have been influenced by the rather breezy conditions present today.  At their price point, I recommend picking up a couple to try.  I will certainly be grabbing a few in the other sizes to see if the difference in size brings a corresponding difference in flavor.

Pairing:

Mortal Kombat X is a series of beers brewed by Sound Brewery to commemorate the tenth installment of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise.  Since I’m an old guy and never been a gamer, the name really has no significance to me, but the name of the brewery does, as it is local and well regarded.  The Raiden is an Imperial Saison which displays a nice citrusy character on an earthy and slightly sweet base, and would be a great match for lighter wrapper cigars, but it matched up quite well with the Fonseca Nicaragua, too.  I liked the way the brighter notes of the Raiden offset the darker flavors of the Fonseca, but going the other way with, say, a brown ale or Scotch ale would also work very well.  I could also see a sweet rum or spiced rum, as well as a sweetened coffee being great foils for this cigar.

-Jeff Oda

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The Good Stuff:

This year Quesada announced a new line of cigars created to celebrate 40 years of hard work. The 40th anniversary is composed of three regular production lines: Robusto – 5 x 52, Toro – 6 x 54, and the Toro Real – 6 x 65. There are two limited edition vitolas: Toro press – 6 x 49 boxpress, and the Salomon Press with is a 6 ¾ x 50/33. It’s a crazy size with a Salomon foot and head and a slender box-press body. Through those 5 sizes the blend is consistent featuring a Mexican San Andreas wrapper, Dominican Binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica shares the same name as it’s 5 brothers, but the blend is quite different featuring an Ecuadorian Connecticut Wrapper, and a tweaked blend using a Dominican Criollo binder with Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is blended by Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr. and is only available at events that he personally attends where it is sold in packs of five. After the event, that specific retailer who put on the event is able to sell the cigars which then comes in 50 count cabinets. You can find a bit more information about the blend over at Halfwheel’s site. While these may be elusive to some, I was able to pick up a handful over at Smokeinn and believe they still may have them in stock. Like many of the other cigars is the 40th anniversary line, the Corona Clasica is a limited run so you may want to pick them up while you can.

Size: 6.5 x 46
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Criollo
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.25
Pairing: Prairie Artisan Ales – Prairie Ale (Saison 8.2% ABV)

Prelight:

The Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is mostly covered in a soft white tissue. While the tissue gives the cigar an interesting look and provides a bit of protection for the rather delicate Ecuadorian Connecticut leaf, it’s a pain in the ass to get off on all the Corona Clasicas that I have smoked. Not only is it tightly twisted around the foot, but they also have a small strip of glue on them. In a few cases it worked against the attempt to protect the leave as it tore small parts of the wrapper off during removal. On the plus side, the tears were all very minor and never harmed the smoking experience. Once the tissue has been successfully removed a beautiful, light brown wrapper is on display. The wrapper is pretty consistent in it’s yellowish-brown color but features a few areas of green tinted leaf, and darker brown webbing. As I stated before, the wrapper is pretty thin and delicate but the filler is very tightly packed and firm with no soft spots at all. The long body which resembles more of a toroish vitola leads up to a beautiful round triple cap. The construction is perfect. The cigar is then polished off with a double band. The first is one we are familiar with as it came on the Seleccion de Espana blend featuring a black, gold, white, and silver color wheel and Quesada’s emblem. The second features the same colors with the elegant writing of “40th Anniversary” on the front. The presentation on this cigar is incredible and I just can’t wait to light it up.

The wrapper on the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica gives off a very bold grassy/mossy aroma with hints of tobacco while the foot of the cigar features much more spice and cedar. The cap cut clean and very easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw features much of the same with lots of spice and cedar backed by grassy notes and even a bit of sweetness.

First Smoke:

The first draws on Quesada’s 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica start out very salty, with some slight pepper and spice over lots of sweetness, citrus, cedar, and floral notes. As I carried on the saltiness began to face and the spice became a bit more prominent. The draw is a bit snug, but nothing too bad. The burnline is razor thing producing a very pretty, tightly compacted, dark and medium gray ash which held on for an inch before softly falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There:

The floral flavors have really taken off in the second third of the Quesada 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica. Each puff the spice peeks through more and more as the cedar and sweetness are still in the mix. It seems all the flavors have to battle through the strong floral flavors to get attention, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The floral notes are great. The 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica has a real Cubanesque feel to it’s flavor profile. The retrohale is very smooth and it lets the cigar show off those spice and cedar notes more. The burnline is still rockin’ even and I am feeling absolutely no nicotine as I close out the second third.

Finish:

The final third of Quesada’s 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica is where the cigar really starts to shine. Up until now the body was medium at best, but it’s now pushing it into the medium/full range with lots more cedar and spice, sweetness, and citrus while the floral flavors begin to fizzle out. I am starting to pick up a bit more of the pepper though, although it’s quite mild. I’m just surprised it’s still present at this point in the experience. The burnline has been perfect the whole time. I never once had to reach for my torch the hour and a half it took to take the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica down. I smoked this bad boy down until my fingertips were on fire encountering absolutely no harshness at all. Knowing the blend, I do recommend taking your time with this one. If you speed through it there is a good chance you just may encounter some harsher areas.

Overview:

Having smoked a few of the 40th Anniversary sizes outside of the Corona Clasica, there really isn’t any similarities between the two. The standard 40th anniversary is bolder, sweeter, and flavorful while the Corona Clasica is much more cubanesque, milder, and in my opinion much more balanced and well-rounded. I seldom reach for Connecticut wrapped cigars, but this is one that I could see myself smoking all day. Flavorful enough for the evening, mild enough for the morning. The construction is absolutely flawless, and the experience is incredible while the price point is just. My only suggestion is to lose that tissue, it’s a bit of a pain. I picked up quite a few of these and will probably grab some more. If you happen to come across these do yourself a favor and pick a few up.

Pairing:

Prairie Artisan Ales’ Prairie Ale is an 8.2% ABV Saison style Farmhouse ales brewed at the Prairie Artisan brewery in Oklahoma. I’m a big fan of Saison style ales, especially in fall. The citrus, spice, and fruit really match the weather’s mood, and most of them come in at a nice, high ABV. The Prairie Ale is very light, leading with strong citrus, doughy bread, and spice with a light mouthfeel and a strong citrus and bitterness on the finish. It has a bit of bite, but finishes crisp. The first time I smoked the 40th Anniversary Corona Clasica I immediately pictures pairing this with a light saison. I needed something that had some citrus and spice, but wasn’t overpowering at all as the cigar could easily be overdone by a bolder pairing. The Prairie Ale fit that description to a tee. The citrus, spice, and even the bready flavor paired up perfectly with the existing flavors in the 40th Anniversary. Other pairing would include coffee, a Belgian golden ale, or a mild Marzen.

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