Vitola: Corona Gorda- 5.625” x 46 ring gauge
- ~$9.00
- Samples provided by Gran Habano
Background
Zulu Zulu was announced in 2015 as part of the Gran Habano S.T.K. Miami series, made in the Gran Habano Miami facility. The blend was originally part of George Rico’s private collection and the boxes featured art commissioned by Rico from his Colombian-American artist and friend, “Mas Paz.”
There are two different versions of the Zulu Zulu “Mas Paz,” and they both start with Nicaraguan filler and binder leaves. I’m starting off with the Black version which features an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper leaf. The blend is available in 3 sizes which skew toward the smaller ring gauge…a 40 ring gauge Lancero, the 46 ring gauge Corona Gorda I am reviewing, and a 54 ring gauge Toro.
I did a short look at both Black and White versions when they came out and I did remark at the time that proceeds from the sales of these cigars was set to go to La Casa de la Madre y el Niño, an orphanage in Colombia. I smoked two of these cigars for this review cycle, both of which were provided by Gran Habano.
Prelight
The cigar comes wrapped in a printed thick vellum. It’s perfectly opaque where there is black printing, but where there is no printing, it’s quite translucent. Once I took off the outer paper sheath, I could see the simple textured paper band that was basically all black with plain white writing on it: Zulu Zulu by George Rico.
The wrapper leaf was a golden hue with quite a bit of smudging and mottling on it. It might not pass muster on a cigar of this price tag if it wasn’t completely hidden by the vellum sheath to begin with. It had a nice, clean aroma, though, of hay and earth. The foot of the cigar had more earthiness, along with touches of cocoa powder and cedar.
After I clipped the head, I had a fantastic draw, though the prelight flavors were just mainly hay and cedar.
Flavor
Once lit, I got a solid earthy flavor at the core, with notes of citrus, cream, cedar and pepper spice. At the outset the Zulu Zulu “Mas Paz” Black was on the milder side of medium-bodied. The first third continued to be earthy with backing Flores of lemon and cream and a growing pepper spice.
As I eased into the second third, I noted that the pepper spice had continued to build until it rivaled earth as the primary flavor note. There was still a nice undercurrent of creamy, sweet hay from the Shade wrapper leaf and the body was right in the middle of the medium-bodied range.
The last third of Zulu Zulu “Mas Paz” Black showed an increase in cedar and cream notes while the pepper died down a little bit and the earth went way into the background. The retrohale was still nutty and peppery.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line and solid ash up to an inch.
Value
Even made in Miami, these cigars still retail for about $9, which is a very good price for this medium-bodied Conny.
Conclusions
I found the Zulu Zulu “Mas Paz” Black to be a very interesting medium-bodied Connecticut Shade stick that was more on the earthy side for the majority of the burn, with creamy notes providing accents early on before leading the way toward the end. I enjoyed it quite a bit and would definitely recommend it for people that like Connys but want them with some more body.
Gran Habano is an advertiser on Leaf Enthusiast and did supply the cigars for this review. That did not influence the outcome of this review.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
