A 1502 Corona or Two or Three, an Ezra Zion, and a New Humidor

I’m on a House of Emilio kick this week. Enrique at Global Premium Cigars recently released his three core lines in corona sizes, and I was lucky enough to have a couple of each arrive in my mailbox a week or so ago.  Thursday I grabbed one of the 1502 Cigars Black Gold Coronas, who would expect otherwise?  I’ve been a fan of the 1502 line in general and the Black Gold in specific.  All the coronas are 5½ x 42, and are box pressed, and my ScrewPop 2.0 punch was the perfect diameter to fit the cap. The burn and draw were perfect, the flavors  were dark and rich with some spice. The San Andrés wrapper on this is dark with a nice sheen of oil.  As I think back to last May when I smoked the 1502 Lanceros last, I liked the Emerald the best, where I enjoy the Black Gold more in the larger ring gauge. I’m interested to see if that is the case with the Coronas.

To mix things up a little, Friday I wrapped up the week with another cigar from the House of Emilio family, the Ezra Zion Eminence in the Belicoso Gran Toro size. That’s a unique name for this, it would be like calling a Fuente Don Carlos No.4 a Torpedo Petite Corona, I guess.  It’s 5″ x 58, so calling it a Belicoso would have sufficed.  This is another cigar with a San Andrés maduro wrapper that started off really spicy and smooths out over the course of the smoke.  It’s reasonably strong too, so better to smoke this on a full belly. The cigar performed admirable, burning and drawing well after snipping a bit of the tapered head off with the scissors. I really like using the scissors for pointy headed cigars.  This had been in my humidors for a year or two, long enough for me to have forgotten when I got it, and long enough for it to settle a little more than my prior experience (here)! Another great cigar from Chris and Kyle at Ezra Zion.

Just so you know, this is NOT the new humidor I bought, but one that came to my attention and I though it would make sense to bring up.  The folks at Brown Safe like cigars and take cigar storage seriously.  I’ll be heading over to their place when the nukes go off or Armageddon hits because they will be the only ones with cigars that are still in perfect condition!

The special-edition Cigar Safe features a custom sealed Spanish cedar interior for storing and aging cigars, in addition to state of the art security features Brown Safe is known for.  The Cigar Safe is a celebration of everything the modern man cherishes….and often wants to keep to himself.  Ballistic steel, fire cladding, anti-drive, and triple redundant relockers come standard, and complement the carbon fiber accents and integrated Thermo/Hygrometer from esteemed maritime instrument maker Wempe Chronometerwerke Maritim.   Depending on features, price for the new special edition Man Safe ranges from $7,800 – $22,500

 

Just a little something for the man who has everything!  I have more modest needs, so I went with the Lemans from 1st Class Cigar Humidors. I purchased this from Keith there because he’s been a long time supporter of the site, but make no mistake, I did purchase it! It arrived yesterday and I’m in the process of seasoning it before filling it up (I suppose if I “fill” it I’m going to have some ‘splaining to to, since my wife asked if I was sure if it would be big enough. I love that woman! It was her Christmas present to me) I was quite relieved to find that Victor Vitale has the same humidor and gave it a good endorsement. More pics as I fill it, but I put the Cigar Oasis unit in, and filled up the old school humidifiers up with distilled water (these will, no doubt, be replaced at some point) and it’s looking pretty good sitting at about 75% over night.  I want it to be at about 65% before I load it up. It arrived in good shape, it was very well packed, and I ‘ve got a huge pile of cardboard and styrofoam to dispose of! The order process was smooth and I was notified when it shipped, no complaints at all with the service from 1st Class Cigar Humidors. I’m looking forward to not having to rummage through coolers!

While I was waiting I indulged in a 1502 Emerald corona, another 5 x 42 box pressed beauty from Enrique Sanchez.  It rained all day, so I sat on my covered front porch waiting for the delivery. Very much like the Lancero series, I think the Emerald might be my favorite of the three. While it’s on the milder side in comparison with the others, it’s loaded with flavor, and very well balanced. I enjoyed the cigar very much, although I had to keep waiting for the delivery.  they had given me a 9:30-5 delivery window, and when 6:00 rolled around I decided to fire up the 1502 Ruby corona and walk up and down the street. Wouldn’t you know the driver finally called to say he was running late (well duh), and would be there in 20  minutes. I still really liked the Ruby Corona, it falls solidly in between the Emerald and the Black Gold in strength, and has a hearty flavor with  hint of sweetness.  As the truck pulled in, I had to abandon the cigar before the band, which I hated doing, so I’ll revisit this one in the near future.  The coronas are terrific, on a par with the terrificness of the lanceros. I’m a big fan of the whole line anyway, but these smaller ring gauge cigars add a whole new dimension. Well done, Enrique, and thank you to Gary Griffith at the House of Emilio for sharing these goodies!

I was going to have a contest today, but things got a little busy. Look for something on Wednesday, it’ll be good.  Until the next time,

CigarCraig