Yeah!, I got a bonus day! Somehow the weather gods decided that we have here, deep in autumn, one nice day. Nice temperatures and sometimes some sunshine. And dry! Why not try, what will probably be, the last cigar of the year.

Juan López was founded in 1876 by Juan López Diaz, today a local brand with a minor market share. The cigars are considered to be medium to strong. Today there are only three standard cigars in production. A Petit Corona, and Selection No. 1 (a Grand Corona) and No.2 (a Robusto). As far as I know, there never was an Edición Limitada, but there have been 11 (eleven) Edición Regionales, almost three every year. Here we’ll have a look at the Selection No. 1. First release of this Grand Corona, was in 1990. The band was placed on the cigar since 2005. I believe the one I’m smoking, has aged for about 4 years.

Juan López Selection No. 1 (46 x 143 mm, Corona Gorda, Grand Corona, Box code unknown)

Color & Looks: Colorado. Bulgy. Wrapper looks OK, but through it you can see that the binder has a large vein. Let’s hope this doesn’t disturb the draw. Tightly packed. So it looks somewhat smooth, yet it’s nicely cut without any frails.

A cru: Lots of aroma to boot. Fresh, almost a kind of lemon juice freshness. Old books and leather. Milk chocolate mousse. Gentile. After the cut the smell stays the same. And it really looks tightly packed.

Taste: Surprisingly good burn. Taste is quite woody, and a little bit sharp and dry. Right from the start a lot of smoke. Woody and a bit sour. When taken with coffee it enhances the acidity of both. Water suits the cigar better, but it really needs a Cognac or a Whisky.  The wrapper has a nice white ash, but the binder and the filler are really dark. Mostly black with a little gray in it.

It’s really not the taste bomb I expected, and it is medium to strong. The second-hand smoke is really beautiful. After 3 centimetres the taste mellows out a bit and the second-hand smoke becomes even better. At last its warming up a bit. It’s a little creamier now. The white ash from the wrapper looks stunning. Not a lot of development and the taste is half strong. During the half way point the smoke got less thick, but picks up again quickly. Draw was good throughout the whole cigar.

The finish comes quickly. When It turned ‘bad’ I still had a considerable amount of cigar left.

Buy this cigar for a friend and go and sit beside him/her to really enjoy the cigar, since I thought it to be better from the second-hand smoke than to smoke it yourself. The cigar doesn’t develop at all and stays the whole time on dry wood. I think this will do great when accompanied by Cognac or a whisky.

Points: 73