Cigars.ie

La Corona Policromia

A few of us recently received a very kind invitation from Rob and David of JJ Foxes here in Dublin to have a little tour around the basement of the shop.

After viewing an amazing selection of cigars, we were each provided with a Fox Policromia to smoke.

A very interesting cigar which seems to have been made for Fox, Dublin in the early 1960s after the pre-revolution La Corona Poli-Cromias were discontinued, at least that was the explanation from David, one of the very few people who knew of the existence of these cigars before we got to smoke some. Before that evening I had never seen mention of them anywhere.

A shape (conical figurado) I had never seen in a Cuban cigar before. About 6 inches long with a ring gauge of about 48-50 tapering evenly down to about 40, no “shoulder” as in current piramides and belicosos…Nice weight in the hand and cut very well, no cracks in the wrappers. These cigars have been stored faultlessly over the years, again telling of the standard of the shop.All the cigars that evening were in excellent condition. Some traces of old, long dead, surface mould on some of the cigars but that wiped off very easily.

Nice draw, very slightly on the easy side for me but very good nonetheless. Pre-light smell of wood and well aged tobacco. Smoked very well, no relights or touch-ups required and kept a straight burn all the way. I was in a room with four other people all smoking one of these and they all burned well.

Throughout the length of the cigar the prevalent flavour for me was very good, aged tobacco, following are other flavours throughout the length. For the first third, the main flavour was spice, strong spice, like white pepper on the tongue and varying amounts of cedar. In the middle third some creaminess came through with slight sweetness. Towards the end the spice came back full on again, to the point where it got a little harsh.

I can only wonder what these were like fresh, this still had a lot of strength for a 50 year old cigar. Ash colour was light, not bright white but light-coloured for a Cuban cigar. I smoked mine with Jim Barry McRae Wood Shiraz 2004, kindly provided by Foxes again. As it turned out, the berry flavours paired very well with the cigar, if not very slightly too intense. However, a very good wine selection by Rob!

Not the best cigar I’ve ever smoked, and I think all of us there agreed, but very very good and certainly one of the rarest. The cigar did not overheat at all. Burn time, to the nub for me about 90 minutes. Many thanks again to Rob and David for making possible a very enjoyable evening. If you’re ever buying cigars in Dublin, be sure to call in.