Tarazona Tuesday, part 1: The Original 3 Blends

Originally published at Tiki Bar Online

Last year I first became familiar with Tarazona Cigars when Keith did a reviews of the 305 and XTC blends last summer. Brand owner, Eddie Tarazona, ended up becoming a sponsor of the 2012 Chattanooga Tweet-Up and attending the event as well. I got a chance to sample a few of his cigars, but never at a time for a real evaluation. Then early this year, we were contacted by someone else with the company wondering if we would like to sample their new Cubanacan lines. “Sure!” I replied. I love trying new blends as there is always a chance I’ll find a new favorite. As it happened, I was sent one each of everything they make so far…all 3 of the original “Tarazona” blends and both of the new “Cubanacan” blends…all in a Robusto vitola. So a total of 5 blends…I figured it might be nice to evaluate each of them in a shorter format…today I’m starting with the 3 older blends.

CLASSIC

The company’s website describes this as a “classic…mild to medium bodied” cigars that will appeal to a wide range of smokers. It has Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with a Sumatran wrapper. The Classic has a medium-brown wrapper with a few medium-sized veins and an oily touch. The aroma from the wrapper was of ripe earth and rich tobacco, while the foot had more woody notes of cedar. I cut and took a cold draw; what I noticed more than anything else was an immediate sweetness, almost as if the cigar were dipped. It had a rich hay note and some wood, too, but the sweetness was very apparent.

Once lit, the Classic gave off more…um…“classic” flavors of cedar, hay, and earth along with just a touch of spice. There was still a little of that honey sweetness hanging around, too. As I smoked through the cigar, I got tons of cedar flavors along with a hint of a metallic note that I find in many Sumatra wrappers. Someone else did note that these may use a sweetened tip, although I could not find a definitive word on that. I just have to say that I’ve never had a cigar that sweet at the beginning without it being a sweetened tip. Not that there is anything wrong with it…I found it did add quite a bit to the experience of this cigar. In all, not a bad cigar at all, even though it wasn’t totally in my wheelhouse.

XTC

Next up is the XTC, described as a complex medium to full-bodied smoke. It is a Nicaraguan puro with a Sun-grown Corojo wrapper. I was a little surprised by how light this wrapper was for sun-grown Corojo…it was barely darker than a lot of Connecticut Shade leaves, to be honest. It did have a tinge of red to it that definitely set it apart from Conny coloration, though. The aroma from the leaf was of cedar with a slight undercurrent of barnyard. The foot gave off notes of sweet hay. The prelight draw was sweet, but not sweet like the Classic…this was more the sweetness of natural tobacco, along with a pronounced cedar note.

The cedar characteristic of Corojo came through loud and proud once I lit up the XTC. Along with the woody notes, I got some pepper spice, some hay, and a little bit of earthiness. Through the first half the cedar note held sway over the flavor profile of this stick. I have to be honest when I say that was not totally unexpected…Corojo leaf seems to have a definite predilection to that flavor, whether it’s natural or just a result of the aging process, I couldn’t say.

Near the end, I noted that the flavor profile hadn’t really changed much…more cedar, perhaps a little more earthiness and a little more red pepper creeping through on the palate. So it’s not the most complex cigar out there, but it is a good example of what Corojo wrapper tastes like.

305

Moving up the ladder to the top rung in terms of body (for Tarazona, anyway) is the 305 (named for the area code of Miami). Again this features Nicaraguan fillers and binder, but this time the wrapper is a Costa Rican Maduro. This wrapper was quite dark in color and a little velvety to the touch. It had very little aroma, but I sniffed harder and picked up some coffee notes. The foot aroma was very similar to the XTC in that it was mostly a hay smell. The cold draw of the 305 had a nice mildly sweet cocoa flavor. That same flavor continued once lit, along with a smoky earthiness and a mild spice, all wrapped in a fairly full-bodied cloud of smoke.

Early in the cigar, I got distinct notes of licorice to go with the cocoa powder and earth. The maduro sweetness was subtle, but definitely there, as was a nice level of pepper spice. In the second half the 305 got more earthy and fuller of body. There wasn’t a huge amount of nicotine strength there, though, which should please those more sensitive to nicotine. Overall I liked this one the best. Again, not the most complex of flavor profiles, but it delivered a consistent flavor that hit my palate the best of the three.

Notes:

I like how this line is immediately identifiable by band. All 3 have their own unique identity and detail changes, but the banding is similar enough to make them a “family” of cigars.

All three cigars shared the attribute of not being terribly complex. Despite that they were enjoyable and seemed well fitted to their target audience.