Revisit Review: La Barba Purple…Corona Gorda

• Vitola: Corona Gorda
• 5.75” x 46 ring gauge 
• MSRP ~$8
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

It was only a week ago (at the time of this writing) that I reviewed the La Barba Purple in a 6×60 size and found the flavor definitely lacking for my palate. I had mentioned that the 6×60 Magnum was the only size that was available when I picked it up—and that was true—but I may have also referenced that some other sizes had come in originally, but been sold out by the time I got to the shop. I did see something of a glimmer of hope in this blend, even in a fatty size, so when I got to the shop a couple days later and found that 3 other sizes of La Barba Purple and showed up, I took it as fate.

I smoked the Lancero first, and while I liked the flavor, I couldn’t get it to stay lit for an extended period of time. I thought it might be that I smoked it while working (and that could be part of it), but I’m not the only one at the shop to make a similar remark. So when it came time to do this second review, I opted for the Corona.

To review, La Barba Purple has an HVA (Habana Vuelta Abajo) wrapper, Dominican Corojo binder, then a mix of HVA, Corojo and Carbonell leaf for the fillers. This is the third time I’ve smoked this blend, but first time in this vitola.

Prelight

You can review what I said in my first review of La Barba Purple when it comes to the packaging…it’s no different for this size. Bottom line: nice, tasteful, minimalist, and very well-thought-out. I got the same aromas of molasses, cedar and earth from the wrapper, although I got just hay and pepper from the foot here, without the graham I had picked up on the larger ring gauge size.

I did pick up some sweet graham notes on the prelight draw, along with a bit of cedar, some earth and just a whisper of peppery heat.

Flavor

La Barba Purple in the Corona Gorda vitola started off with flavor-forward notes of cedar and hay with a touch of earthiness in the mix and a very healthy dose of black pepper on the back of the palate and on the nose. The graham notes that I picked up on the Magnum vitola were there, but hidden under a very spicy beginning. Other notes, like char, natural tobacco and leather, were non-existent in this vitola. Not sure what caused the spice explosion in this vitola, but most likely a result of the smaller ring gauge allowing the combined spice power of the non-hybrid Corojo binder and HVA wrapper truly come out to play.

In the second third the spice toned down a bit and more earthy notes came through with just a touch of some raisin sweetness.

The last third saw the continuation of the spice dying down, while graham and leather finally came out more prominently.

Construction

I had to make a couple minor touch-ups to the burn line, but no big deal. The draw was excellent and the ash was solid.

Value

This cigar was definitely worth the $8 MSRP.

Conclusions

I was very happy to find that La Barba Purple was indeed a very worthy blend. In this Corona Gorda vitola, I experienced it as full-bodied and full-flavored with lots of complexity. It was a pleasure from light-up to nub. It also proved my point (at least to me) that big ring gauge cigars tend to dumb down flavor profiles. I will be very happy when (if?) this big ring gauge trend goes away and most people get back to reasonably sized vitolas that allow the wrapper and binder leaves’ flavor to come out and play.

By-The-Numbers

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