Stogie Reviews: El Rey del Mundo Petit Corona (Cuban)
Monday, September 24th, 2007After a couple less-than-thrilling Habanos in the form of a Partagas Serie D and a Romeo y Julieta Exhibición, I was hoping to find a Cuban that would live up to its expectations. I decided to try my luck with an El Rey del Mundo.
For those of you who don’t habla Español, the brand’s name literally means “king of the world.” (How’s that for expectations?) It dates back to 1848 when Antonio Allones – no relation to Ramón – established a tobacco business in Havana. At one time, El Rey del Mundo was the most prestigious and expensive stogie in the world.
These days, the brand is manufactured by Habanos S.A. and advertised to “discriminating” smokers as a woody, leathery stick with a fresh, herbal bouquet.
The Petit Cornona is five inches with a 42 ring gauge, and can be found for as little as $5.70 or as much as $9 apiece. Its appearance is both rustic, with coarse veins and prominent seams, and regal, with a medieval red and gold band.
The preliminary taste is superbly pleasing as heavy notes of roasted coffee and leather dominate. Soft and doughy to the touch, each puff seems to produce just the right amount of earthy smoke. A black pepper spice is quick to join the flavor profile and builds nicely to the midway point.
Some sweet notes would do the cigar good, if only to balance out its woody, spicy taste. I’d recommend pairing this Cuban with a sugary drink, like some El Dorado rum. Even so, this is a wonderful smoke, especially if you take your time.
On construction, the burn is fairly even (but by no means perfect), the draw is loose and clear, and the ash can fall off unexpectedly.
When you get right down to it, this particular stick is a great deal for under $6 and overpriced at $9. Either way, you’ll get a terrific medium-bodied taste in a relatively quick format. I give the El Rey del Mundo Petit Corona four out of five stogies.
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These are quite excellent if you find some with a few years on them. Nice review.
I agree. Hands-down delicious, especially with some aging. How old was the particular stick you reviewed?
The two Petit Coronas this review is based on were only in my humidor for about one month.
I too get the feeling this is one of those sticks that could really come into its own after some aging.
Patrick, do you happen to know the date code on these?
Ricky-
It came out of a box that I have. It is dated Feb 07.
Well, the ’98s were smokin’ great a couple of months ago… Think you can wait that long on these? lol.
[...] With Monday’s El Rey del Mundo and yesterday’s Ashton, this week has featured some truly great cigars. I wanted to keep that trend going when I picked out a Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino Sungrown for today’s review. [...]
[...] The Stogie Guys review: El Rey del Mundo Petit Corona, Ashton Classic Corona and Cuesta-Rey Centro Fino Sungrown No. 9 [...]