Vitola: Corona Pequeña- 4” x 44 ring gauge
- MSRP $5.50
- Samples provided by Drew Estate
Background
Last week I smoked the Undercrown Shade in the new Pequeño vitola, which was introduced in January’s TPE trade show, along with this week’s short smoke…the Undercrown Maduro Corona Pequeña. Jonathan Drew had this to say about these new releases:
Corona Pequena’s are short, squat, flavor bombs that sit between the tin size and the robusto size in the Undercrown brand family. We could go on and on about the “functionality” of this short smoke during winter months – but there is something absolutely beautiful about the Corona Pequena that is more meaningful than just utilitarianism. This cigar is a stunner in both taste and trade dress.
The Maduro version uses Brazilian and Nicaraguan fillers, Connecticut Stalk-cut and Sun-cured Habano binder, and a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper. This is the original blend that was originally just called “Undercrown” with “Maduro” only being added on years later after the Shade and Sungrown came out, in order to avoid confusion.
They are available nearly everywhere that sells cigars, but if your shop doesn’t carry them, try Small Batch Cigar, a Leaf Enthusiast sponsor.
Notes
As with the Shade version, the Maduro packaging is the same as every other vitola in the line. Dark blue and gold labels on the cigars, which are placed in plain wood boxes. The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate brown in color with a decent amount of oiliness under my fingertips and a very earthy, almost barnyardy aroma, with just a touch of anise. The foot had more earth, but more in a medium range with notes of chocolate coming through.
The cold draw had notes of earth and espresso bean, with unsweetened cocoa powder just showing up a bit. Once lit, the Undercrown Maduro was earthy and slightly bitter, with a decent amount of sweetness in the mix and a healthy dose of pepper spice. I figured just about any Bourbon would pair just great with this, so I fought the urge to do that and paired it with the McClelland Islay Scotch instead.
This Scotch is so well-balanced with peat and oak and sweetness that it actually worked very well with this Nicaraguan-heavy blend, something that doesn’t happen all that often. The cigar had a heavy undercurrent of earth with touches of semi-sweet chocolate, red pepper, and cinnamon.
I can see this being a regular cigar for me during colder months, although the timing of the release is a little baffling as it started showing up right around the time the weather turned warmer.
