Cigar Review: Casa Magna Colorado Corona

When Cigar Aficionado announced its top cigar of 2008, I can recall being shocked, as well as reflecting on how little I knew about the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto. I don’t place much stock in Cigar Aficionado ratings, much less the magazine’s annual Top 25 list, but this selection appeared to come out of left field—especially when you consider the pedigree of the 2008 runner-up, the Padrón Serie 1926 80 Years Maduro.

Admittedly, like many other curious cigar enthusiasts, the designation prompted me to try the smoke for myself. I did. I also tried the Torito. I grew more and more impressed by Casa Magna’s ability to generate a top-quality blend for a very reasonable price. Kudos to the partnership between Manuel Quesada and Nestor Plasencia.

In the years that followed, the Casa Magna hype seemed to die a predictable death. Maybe it’s just me, but I hear and/or read very little about the brand these days. And for one reason or another, I rarely pull a Casa Magna out of one of my humidors.

I couldn’t resist reacquainting myself with the Casa Magna Colorado when I saw the Corona vitola on sale at my local tobacconist for $5.50. Like its brethren, the Corona is blessed with a super-oily wrapper that boasts a reddish hue (hence “Colorado”). The pre-light aroma reminds me of honey and cocoa. A punch cut is all that’s needed to reveal a smooth draw.

After setting an even light with a few wooden matches, the cigar—made from 100% Cuban-seed Nicaraguan tobaccos—displays a bold taste of pepper and black cherry. Soon I start to notice the unique flavor that attracted me to the other Casa Magna Colorado formats: dried apricot. Other notes come and go throughout, including earth and peanut.

Back when Casa Magna was the talk of the town, I recall many smokers/reviewers reporting construction issues. Maybe I’m just lucky, but those issues continue to evade me. All three Coronas I smoked for this review exhibited solid white ashes, straight burn lines, and clear draws that yielded plenty of smoke with each puff.

That top rating from Cigar Aficionado in 2008 may have been the best and the worst thing to ever happen to the blend. On one hand, I think it’s safe to say many more people tried this cigar than otherwise would have; on the other, it seems like some expect this sub-$6 smoke to exceed the complexity of the best Padrón. It doesn’t. What it does is make an oily, well-constructed, uniquely flavored cigar available at a very modest price point. That affords the Corona a solid rating of four stogies out of five.

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–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys