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Bolivar Coronas Gigantes - 1997

CoventryCat86

CoventryCat86

Corresponding authority
Joined
Jun 18, 2003
Messages
12,606
Location
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
Tonight, I smoked what I consider to be a "special" cigar, a 1997 Bolivar Coronas Gigantes (a Churchill vitola, 7" x 47). I considered this a "special" cigar because it is almost NINE years old and for most lovers of Havanas, a cigar like this with considerable "age" is a treat. I pulled this cigar out of a pass that was "put" but a repected member so I have the uptmost conifdence it was the "real deal."

Prelight draw: I could tell right away this cigar was going to be trouble because the prelight draw was tighter than it should have been.

Construction and appearance: The cigar looked beautiful and construction was typical for a Bolivar.

Taste: To me, Bolivars taste "flat" ans this one was no exception. MRN says that the "strenght" of these is a "4/5" but you could have fooled me. I wasn't much stronger than the Quai d'Orsays that I smoke on a regular basis. At least they taste better than Bolivars IMO

Draw: The draw was tight, so tight that I had to use a poker to losen it up a bit. It didn't help much....

As I continued to wrestle with this cigar, it became extremely bitter and very unpleasant to smoke.

Finish: I barely finished it as it tasted like crap.

I would not recommend these cigars. I've smoked my share of these in the past and I've never been impressed.

On a cA rating scale, I'd give this cigar an

86
 
From all of the problems you had, I'd say '86 is generous. I've only had one of these (it wasn't that old) and I loved it. Sorry to hear that this one was crappy.
 
You need to let them age longer, they are in sick period. :laugh:

I could not help it. :D

I hope you have few other old ones from the same batch. Perhaps, you can compare.
 
Sounds like a dud. Sorry to hear about that Bill. I'm not much of a Boli fan but the '02s have been very good and definitely full bodied.
 
When a cigar is as tight as you described, the flavor will be flat and muted. It amazes me at how many people will dump their lousy cigars into a box pass or in a straight trade. There is no way a person who is allegedly a Cuban aficionado doesn't know a cigar is too tight to smoke. All they have to do is look at the foot and feel the weight of a cigar to know it won't smoke right.
 
Sorry to hear about the dud smoke. I agree with Master about tight smokes. I've had tight NC (particularly figurados) that just plain sucked until I cut enough off to open up the flow...and then they changed character and got a little less sucky.

Wilkey
 
I always have a couple boxes of the BBF in the humi. While I haven't smoked any aged Bolis (over 2 yrs old) I like the BBF's
The are rather plain until you get about half way through them and then I think they taste great.

BBF's are on the inexpensive side as well.

I have only been smoking cigars a few years now and there are many brands I have yet to still try.

I know you were bummed, I would have expected a lot from a 9 yr old cigar too.

Rich
 
The Master said:
There is no way a person who is allegedly a Cuban aficionado doesn't know a cigar is too tight to smoke. All they have to do is look at the foot and feel the weight of a cigar to know it won't smoke right.
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Damn. I've still got a lot to learn. I have no idea how to tell via weight or the look of the foot if a cigar will be tight.
 
lucasbuck said:
The Master said:
There is no way a person who is allegedly a Cuban aficionado doesn't know a cigar is too tight to smoke. All they have to do is look at the foot and feel the weight of a cigar to know it won't smoke right.
[snapback]257775[/snapback]​
Click to expand...

Damn. I've still got a lot to learn. I have no idea how to tell via weight or the look of the foot if a cigar will be tight.
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Thread jack on

I gotta agree with lucasbuck here. I just brought 2 Sig IVs to a party to smoke with an uncle. The 1 I gave him smoked like a charm and mine was plugged a quarter way down and there's no way I could have seen that before clipping and sparking.

Thread jack off
 
Experience will help with the look and feel aspect, but it's not always a 100% foolproof thing. The one example I can recall is a box of '96 Monte 4s that I had. They were hard as rocks, so I just kind of set on them for a couple of years. I decided to take them to a herf in SoCal two years ago and when we broke them out they were stil hard as rocks, but smoked like a dream. The flavor was spot on vintage Montecristo, too. This is an exception, in general, but it does go to show that it's not always an easy thing to determine until you smoke one.

As for the Boli CGs, from 1997, the best CGs I've had were cabs from 1997. I was buying them from Wal until he ran out about three-four years ago. They never once dissapointed me. There's a good chance the one you had was not stored properly for some period of time, Bill.
 
lucasbuck said:
The Master said:
There is no way a person who is allegedly a Cuban aficionado doesn't know a cigar is too tight to smoke. All they have to do is look at the foot and feel the weight of a cigar to know it won't smoke right.
[snapback]257775[/snapback]​
Click to expand...

Damn. I've still got a lot to learn. I have no idea how to tell via weight or the look of the foot if a cigar will be tight.
[snapback]257821[/snapback]​
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Me too.

JK
 
Hmmm, I wonder if that was one of my smokes? I still have a few left. Let me know Bill and I'll send you something that will smoke.

I've smoked several boxes of these and absolutely love them. YMMV
 
Glad the ones I have are from '98 :laugh: Don't give up Bill, they aren't all like that one.
 
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