Cigar Review: Revolution 305 by Tarazona Cigars

Vitola: No. 18 (Petite Corona)
Size: 4.5” x 42 ring gauge
Price $6.40
Received at Chattanooga Tweet-Up

Background

At this year’s Chattanooga Tweet-Up, it was good to see how much Eddie Tarazona’s company has grown in the couple years since he first contacted us to be part of our annual event. Without going into all the details, Tarazona Cigars has separated out from a previous collaborative effort and Eddie is working hard to bolster the lines he has and sell them more effectively. First talked about in 2013 is the Revolution 305 (305 being Miami’s area code and becoming a running theme for Eddie’s lines), a cigar made for him by Tabacalera Aromas de Jalapa (owned by Noel Rojas, better known for Guayacan Cigars).

Revolution 305 uses fillers from Nicaragua—including Jalapa Ligero—an Ecuadorian Habano binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper leaf. These are available in 5 sizes, but the ones Eddie sent for the Tweet-Up are in what he calls “No. 18” (18? Sure, why not?) but you may know it as a Petite Corona. One of my favorite sizes! Great! Thanks, Eddie! I smoked at least a couple of these before getting around to this one I saved out for review.

Prelight

The first thing I noticed about the Revolution 305 is the departure in design from the original trio of Tarazona releases (Classic, XTC, and 305). This retains the white background of the earlier release bands, but “Revolution 305” is rendered in a highly stylized script font, making it stand out. The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate color with a rough, toothy look and feel to it, but also ample natural oils. I gave it a sniff and got notes of leather and hay mostly; the foot had more earthiness than anything else, but also a bit of chocolate in the mix.

Straight cut by Xikar and we are one step closer to actually lighting this stogie up. The cold draw was good and had a mix of wood and earth flavors along with something that was cool…almost a menthol, but not quite.

Flavor

The Tarazona Revolution 305 started off dead-on medium body, with flavors of oak, dark chocolate, coffee and earth on the palate, along with roasted peanuts and a bit of red pepper on the nose. Midway through the first third, I picked up on some sweeter notes of orange and raisin.

Near the end of the third, the cigar picked up in terms of body, heading into the medium-to-full range and the flavor got much earthier, though not sacrificing all the sweetness. That continued through the second third.

The last third came up quickly. The only problem with this size of cigar is that sometimes they just don’t last long enough…but that’s always a good excuse to light up another! I got notes of cocoa powder and espresso bean layered on top of earth and dark fruit in the final third, with a bit of resurgence of pepper spice.

Construction

I had no construction problems with any of the samples I smoked of the Revolution 305. Ash was solid, burn line was straight, draw was excellent.

Value

Great cigar and a fair price…I’d call it a good value.

Conclusions

I have to admit that this is my favorite of the cigars Tarazona is currently offering. The complex mix of flavors and progression of profile from the beginning to end of the burn makes for a very enjoyable 40 minutes or so of smoking. I think the only way to improve on this one would be to make it a true Corona of about 6 inches instead of the 4.5.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10