Cornelius & Anthony Venganza Robusto

One of the booths I stopped at the IPCPR show and didn’t get to spend much time in was Cornelius & Anthony. They were busy every time I went by, which is a good thing for them. I wanted to say hello to Courtney Smith, which I did, but I didn’t get to meet Steve Bailey, which was disappointing. I’ve had the good fortune to sample the Cornelius line, as well as the Daddy Mac, both of which were excellent, with my personal nod going to the Cornelius, although I like the mellowness of the larger ring gauges to the Corona Gorda, which has a little more of a bite. Not to say the Corona Gorda isn’t excellent, it’s just different and that little bite covers the nuance that I like in the Toro. The Daddy Mac is also very good, and the new Venganza is a step up in strength. Both are made at the La Zona factory in Esteli, Nicaraugua, a factory producing some of the better cigars I’ve smoked over the last couple years.

Cornelius & Anthony is the premium cigar division of the Bailey’s tobacco company that’s been growing Flue Cured tobacco in Virginia since the 1860s. The family has been involved in tobacco for five generations and the parent company, S&M Brands makes Bailey’s, Tahoe and Riverside cigarettes and Lex12 electronic cigarettes. The Cornelius line is made at El Titan de Bronze in Miami.  They also have the rosado wrapped Meridian in the premium line, also made at La Zona.

Over the last couple evenings I smoked the Cornelius & Anthony Venganza Robusto, and it’s unusual for me to smoke the same cigar twice in a row, but this cigar was one I wanted to go back to. One was a sample from the trade show, and one was a sample that came in the mail.  Both had a nice, open draw, after straight cutting the first, I decided to V-cut the second. The V-cut restricted the draw a little, and gave me a little longer smoking time, which I liked. It started out with a bit of strength, them mellowed a little, but still had some punch throughout.  It went from spicy and woody to some nuts and coffee, with a bit of pepper throughout.  Venganza means vengeance in Spanish, and the cigar fits the name, as it is more aggressive than the other cigars in the line, but still balanced and full of great flavor.  I personally love the colors of the bands across the line, hardly a criteria for enjoyment, but it’s been hard for me to not pick one of these up as long as they are in my humidor. Great cigars!

That’s all for tonight, until the next time,

CigarCraig