Panacea Red Label Habano Corona Cigar Review

Please post your review of the Panacea Red Label Habano Corona here.

I guess I'll be the first from the pass to review the Panacea Red Label Habano Corona.  The title of this thread calls the cigar we received a Torpedo, but the cigars in the pass were certainly Coronas, or at least the one I took from the pass at least.
 
Without further adieu, here we go...
 
My first sample from this line was just a few weeks ago during the CP Virtual Video HERF and was the cigar that Paul from Flatbed had sent me as part of the giveaway they put on not too long ago.  I received the pass yesterday and was so impressed with the first red label that I had that I couldn't wait to try another.
 

 
Like during the virtual HERF, I decided to pair this cigar with a bottle of Laphroaig 10 I recently purchased because I thoroughly enjoyed the results I received when paired at the HERF.  The initial flavors I experienced upon lighting the cigar were mostly soft flavors reminiscent of sweet baking spices.  When I say soft flavors, I mean that they're not hard flavors.  I know that sounds obvious, but what I'm really trying to say it that they're not the flavors you think of when you think of some of the more powerful cigars on the market that smack you in the face with black pepper, leather, or licorice.  They're just nice, softer, and more well rounded flavors without such sharp edges to them.  The initial draw seems to be a bit tighter than I would typically like it but that is almost certainly because the vitola is a corona.  I would tend to expect this cigar to open up nicely as it burns a bit more and yield a bit more smoke.
 

 
As I progress into the first third of this cigar, I'm starting to pick up a pine type flavor that reminds me of pine needles.  This pine component of the flavor profile seems to have an almost sweet component that plays wonderfully with the smokey peat flavors of the Scotch.
 

 
As I'm making my way to the end of the first third, I notice the draw beginning to open up nicely.  Now that the somewhat tight draw seems to be resolving itself, I'm sure I'm in for a very pleasant ride.  At the end of the first third, perhaps the beginning of the second, I notice just how smooth and light the body of the smoke is.  Often times it's difficult to tell that I've got a mouth full of smoke, which is an odd, but enjoyable experience.  As I'm smoking this I do take note at the ease with which the smoke can be retrohaled.  I highly recommend those of you that have a difficult time retrohaling to pick up a few of these; as I'm sure you won't get the unpleasant sensation of bees stinging the inside of your nose that you can get with some cigars.  It really does open up a whole new dimension to tasting all the flavors a cigar has to offer.
 

 
As I head into the second third of the cigar, I notice that the ash is very toothy and a dark gray, almost black color.  The burn is exceptional though, and the ash seems to hang on just the right amount.  Not so tight that I can't ash it and not so loose as to fall off in an unpredictable fashion.  This is always an added bonus as it leads to less cleanup when I'm all done.
 

 
As I make my way into the final third, pine is still the predominant flavor, but I'm starting to pick up an almost vanilla like creaminess component in the background of the flavor profile as well.  As expected the draw has really opened up in the second half and is allowing more of the flavors of the cigar to come through.  Just a few puffs later and I'm starting to pick up a very pleasant mild spice as well.  Nothing overpowering but just enough to let you know it's there.
 

 
Sometimes when I pick up a cigar that is very complex and has a lot of twists and turns in the flavor profile it can be distracting.  This is certainly not one of those cigars, but that's definitely not a bad thing.  Sometimes I want to be able to pick up a flavorful smoke and enjoy it for what it has to offer and not have to concentrate too terribly hard on all the nuances of the flavor.  
 
Like said in the beginning of this review, most of the flavors have been soft flavors as opposed to the hard flavors you tend to find in the powerhouse cigars that dominant the market today.  If I had to describe this cigar in on word it would definitely be piney.  This is a very nice change of pace cigar for me since I tend to find myself drifting more and more toward the stronger cigars that are out there.  I enjoyed this cigar so much that I ended up smoking it to just about where the left side of my thumb is located in the last picture.  I can certainly see myself picking up some of these to tuck away in the humidor.  I can't wait to try the Black Label to see what it has to offer.
 
I hope you guys enjoyed my review and, even more importantly, your experience with this excellent cigar.

Nicely done.....Thanks.

Great job brother I really enjoyed your review!
 
Paul

Thanks guys.

Nice review!

Great review and smartly written!
 
Can't wait to get through my mandated cigar sabbatical and light one of these up!

Very good review.

Well since my iPad just deleted my entire review on this I will have to start over from memory. Lol

Panacea red Habano corona

First initial thoughts is this cigar looks rough. Not rough bad by any means, but it is a very well constructed stick just begging to be smoked, but it looks like someone really put a lot into rolling this. Looks great and can't wait to light her up. At first draw the cigar is putting out a strong leather note. It never really dissipates from that. Draw is a little tight, but not to bad to where I am sucking wind. At about the 1/3 way point and I am getting some sweet tingles on the tip of my tongue the longer I let the smoke relax in my mouth (that sounds dirty). The ash is a dark grey and holds well. But as I approach the half way point that leather dominance is still there. The smoke is full of flavor and the aroma is intriguing. It smells like it should have a strong bite/spice to it, but it is not hard on the nose at all. I really enjoyed that the most.

Half way through the draw is opening up and I am getting some pepper spice at this point. This cigar is burning perfect. I can set it and let it rest, play a little chess, make some dumb moves against the computer, and then pick it up and smoke it again with no issue. The taste left on my pallet is also consistent. Not harsh at all. But now mixing the leather on the draw and slowly exhaling to enjoy the aroma is great, not to over powering at all.

The final third doesn't lose it's characteristics from before. Very well constructed and very grateful to have tried it. Not over powering by any means. Especially not when trying to slowly enjoy a smoke, this will not burn your sinuses like some smokes.

Thank you Rod and the folks at Panacea.
Sorry for the lame review, the iPad erased the first one and the pics with it.

I finally got a chance yesterday to sit down and smoke this Panacea Red Corona. I paired it with a diet coke and a bang, bang, shoot-em up action novel. As the photos show I went to the mat with this thing in a failed hope that it would get better. The only thing that held up was the novel. It started as light as air. Although I got plenty of smoke it had very little flavor. As I worked down toward the middle the flavor did pick up but it wasn’t to my liking. When I was younger and going to keggers or camping with friends I would stop and buy a small box of 3 sticks from a convenience store and without naming names that is what this stick reminded me of. The end was a little bitter and welcoming.
 
I don’t wright reviews and seldom ever speak of my smoking experience to anyone. This morning I look on the Panacea web site to get a clue as to what I was smoking. They say; Strength: Strong, Body: Full, Taste: Molasses, semi-sweet, hint of spices, Carmel and Coffee. I have to ask if they’re hallucinating or did I get a dud? This is not a cigar I will go looking for.
 
It seems like every time I try and post a photo I have to re-learn the whole process and I'm out of time right now, sorry. The photos can be found in the public gallery.
 
Tom


 

I've tried lately putting dirt in my mouth, chewing on leather shoes, licking pine trees.....but I still can't seem to get these flavors from cigars. I've tried. While I'm not one that can pick up on the flavor wheel of cigars, I do know what I like and what I don't like. Sorry if this review will seem lame but this is how my palate works.
 
Flatbed Cigar Co., Bucks County Pennsylvania
est. 2007
The Flatbed company is based in Pennsylvania but the factory is in the Dominican Republic, with over 60 years of combined experience.
 
Panacea Red Label (Cuban seed) Habano Corona
A Brazilian Maduro wrapper with a Dominican Habano binder. The interior
is Seco Cubano, Ligero Piloto Cubano, Ligero Olor Dominicano, and
Ligero Nicaragua.
 
  A well constructed, appealing cigar with a simple red band that grabs your attention. I smoked this cigar on my back patio on a partly cloudy 70 degree day, with a slight breeze. I paired it with a glass of ice water so there would be no outside influences for the review. I used a guillotine cut and the cap stayed in place throughout the 1 hour that it took me to smoke the cigar. The burn was fairly straight and produced moderate amounts of smoke. It was smooth and had a very easy draw with no overpowering notes. While the site labels it as a medium to strong cigar, I'd have to put it in the straight up medium category. This would be a good cigar to keep on hand for friends that are occasional smokers that wouldn't really appreciate your premium sticks, or when you just want to kick back and relax without any concerns.
  The Flatbed company should be proud of it's accomplishments and for the price, I would certainly recommend you give it a try.

Cigar:  Panacea Red Habano Classic
 
Manufacturer:  Flatbed Cigar Co. (of Bucks County, PA, U.S.A.)
 
Made In:  Dominican Republic
 
Vitola:  Corona
 
Wrapper:  Brazilian Maduro
 
Binder:  Habano
 
Filler:  A blend of Seco Cubano, Ligero Piloto Cubano, Ligero Olor Dominicana and Ligero Nicaragua
 
Beverage:  Coke Zero...cause I'm still trying to watch my girlish figure.
 
Again...thank you Rod for allowing me to participate in the Panacea Pass and affording me the opportunity to smoke the Panacea Red Habano Classic Corona.  It's not my first experience with this cigar, and it's pretty close to how I remembered it from the past.  I know that this is one of Rod's goto smokes, at least it was in the past.  
 
I apologize again for my laziness and literal lack of effort.  The visualization/realization of my typed words will have to suffice.  If they don't...well...I'm told if you lick the words on your monitor, you can literally taste this cigar.  You don't have to...I'm just offering it up as an option to you.  If you do though...let me know how it worked out for you.
 
Appearance:  A decently constructed cigar.  Just one soft spot near the band.  The wrapper is a deep brown, not as dark as you would normally expect from a maduro wrapper.  Seams are visible, but not readily so.  There is almost a reddish hue to this wrapper.  Not sure if my mind is projecting it from the red band on this cigar, or if the redness I see is true to form for this cigar.  Veins are visible here and there, but nothing that detracts from the visual appeal of this cigar.  The wrapper is slightly rough to the touch.  Love the fact this cigar is a corona...one of my favorite sizes.  
 
@ Cold:  The cigar smells of earth and tobacco.  Not picking up anything else, not from my nose anyway.  I clip it with my Xikar cutter.  The draw is somewhat tight.  I give a good squeeze to the cigar working my fingers down the cigar.  
 
1st-3rd:  The cigar lights with ease.  And the ash takes on a dark gray color interspersed with white here and there.  So far, the cigar is a bit bland.  No sweetness, I taste earth/dirt.  The aroma isn't particularly fragrant.  There is a tin type taste at the back of my throat, and I'm detecting a bit of bitterness here.  There is just a touch of spiciness coming though, but it's not dominant.  The strength starts on the mild side, but works it's way to medium by the end of the 1st-3rd.
 
2nd-3rd:  B-O-R-I-N-G.  It's not that there is no change in flavor...it's more that the change is minimal, and what change there is, is not really enjoyable.  The acrid bitterness is actually ramping up as I smoke through this 2nd-3rd.  That's a huge negative.  I find myself spitting after every few draws.  I'm really not enjoying this cigar at this point.  Looking forward to it ending.  Normally I would stop here, but as this is being smoked for a review, i soldier on.  Boy am I glad i have a Coke Zero handy.
 
3rd-3rd:  The cigar is finally really coming into it's own here.  Wow!  What gives?  I'm getting the distinct taste cashews on the finish here.  Very enjoyable...I'm loving it!  Finally!  The only problem is that it took so long to get here.  The bitterness that dominated before is almost not detectable at this point.  It's hard to get over how nutty this cigar has gotten in the final third.  A little sweetness still hangs in the background, but again...it was not as sweet as I would normally expect a maduro to be.  
 
Conclusion:  Outside of the final third of this cigar, the experience was underwhelming to say the least.  I think the bitterness just killed it for me.  That said...there were many positives to this cigar as well.  I already mentioned the final third, but another highlight is the construction.  The ash held on for two inches at a time.  Impressive.  The burn was dead on.  AT $5.25, this is certainly an inexpensive cigar.  Still for what it delivered, I'd more thank likely opt for something else .
 
Rating:  86
 
Box Worthy?  Not to disparage anyone's favorable opinion of this cigar, but to me it is not box worthy.  When compared the the Panacea Black Maduro Classic Perfecto, I much prefered the Black Label to the Red Label...and by a noticeable margin.  The Red just took to long to get going.  The 3rd-3rd was definitely the sweet spot of the Panacea Red, but the cigar took to long to really ramp up, and the bitterness killed it for me.  I wouldn't buy a box of these cigars, and if I were to pick up some Panacea cigars, I'd go with the Black Label over the Red Label any day of the week and twice on Sunday.  

great review!

[SIZE=12pt]I smoked the Red Label on the 14th and installed an iPhone app to record my thoughts about the cigar as I was smoking it.  That was not a good idea for me since I really don't like writing and have managed to drag out finishing this review until tonight.  I know I started on it over a week ago.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Brand: Panacea Red Label[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Blend: Taken straight from the Panacea website… “A Brazilian Maduro wrapper with a Dominican Habano binder. The interior is Seco Cubano, Ligero Piloto Cubano, Ligero Olor Dominicano, and Ligero Nicaragua. “[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Size: I believe this was a corona.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Construction: The cigar was well constructed with a few veins showing.  The cap was well formed. Clipping it left a nice clean cut which surprised me.  There’s usually some ragged tobacco remaining in the center of the cut.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Age:  Unknown[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]The aroma was somewhat different than what I’m used to.  I don’t know if that’s because of all of the ligero or what.  I guess I would say mild.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Draw: A little tight but I think it will be okay.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Initial Flavors:  I didn’t get much in the pre-light draw other than straight tobacco.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]First 1/3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]At about a half inch in the burn was right on with a light gray ash.  The flavor was mild for my pallet.  There’s some flavor there that I can’t quite put my finger on.  Maybe it will come to me later.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]After a few more minutes I’ve decided the flavor that is closest to what I’m thinking is hops.  I may have gotten this before and just didn’t try to figure it out.  I wish I was one of those beer snobs that likes hoppy beer. [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]J[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]  Ashed at about 3/4” and the ash was still pretty firm.  It would probably have gone another 3/4”.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Second 1/3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I managed to ash the cigar at about 2” against my beer.  The flavor profile has remained pretty consistent up to that point. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Now at about the half-way point the hoppyness has started to subside.  It does seem to be changing but I’m not sure how to characterize it.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]Final 1/3[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Toward the end the profile has change a bit more to a medium body and the strength seems to have picked up some.  The hoppyness has definitely faded which for me is an improvement.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]I put it down at about 3/4 inch remaining.  Smoke time was about an hour and ten minutes or about the same amount of time that it has taken me to write this review.  The burn was flawless requiring no touch ups which is pretty rare for me.  I’m a bit picky with my burn.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=12pt]I don’t see this being a cigar I will pick up in the future.  I would be interested to see if anyone else would characterize this cigar as hoppy.  I know there are a lot of fellow beer snobs out there that like a good hop smack.[/SIZE]
 
 

My review:

Panacea Red Corona

Pre light:
Appearance is a nice reddish brown wrapper, aroma is of sweet tobacco, at the foot there is heavy wet earth with sweetness. Cold draw is firm with flavors of green sweetness with bread. Cigar seems well rolled neither heavy nor light in hand.

1st puffs are of green sweetness like sweetened Yerba mate tea. Aroma of sweet cedar. Slight bitterness with mild spice, sort of reminds me of some Honduran smokes, punch like. A bit of harshness/acidity shows up about 1 inch in. Some coffee and earth flavor show up. Green Yerba mate flavor persists. Firm dark gray ash. Nearing end of 1st third sweet cocoa aroma is present.

Yerba mate continues into 2nd third turns into pine, non roasted raw pine nuts. Acidity continues at this point. 2nd third continues with bitterness, harsh, acidity persists, not pleasant. If no shift may end this one early. Aroma has cocoa and sweetness, if only the flavor would match the aroma. Midway through the 2nd third bitterness goes away, mild tobacco flavor, notice else going on. Smoke aroma is of sweet tobacco and cedar. Flavors now of charred toast and mild pepper zing.

At beginning of final 3rd mild tobacco again, paper or wood. Harshness and acidity still gone, not much going on. Putting this one to be.

Overall 2.5 out of 5.

Not really my flavor profile, but if you like Punch Hondurans by General, you may like this.

Would not recommend.

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