Half Corona Varies Selection

The Half Corona is one of the most successful classic-sized smaller cigars. The ideal correlation between length and ringsize (102mm x Ring 40) develops just enough taste/flavour to either settle or stimulate the palate – without becoming overbearing.
But what if we tweak the length and the ringsize by just a little, will it make any real difference to the smoking experience of this very popular size cigar?
And how does the Dominican cigar, enriched by the Maduro wrapper, compare with the two Cubans?
Here are three handmade cigars of approximately half corona size.
Why don’t you judge for yourself?
Colin Wesley

La Aurora Principes Maduro Petit Corona (112mm x Ring 35)
Grupo León Jimenes, C.porA is the oldest cigar manufacturing company in the Dominican Republic, founded by Don Eduardo Leon Jimenes in 1903. Four generations of the Jimenes family have run the company; brands include the top quality La Aurora and León Jimenes.
La Aurora make two cigar ranges under the name Principes: a machine-made short filler (not available in South Africa) and a handmade long filler cigar with a Maduro or a Connecticut wrapper (Claro), presented in a cedar wood, slide lid box; available in Petit Corona (Maduro or Claro), Short Robusto (101mm x Ring 50, Maduro or Claro) or Corona (133mm x Ring 43, Claro).

Montecristo No.5 (Half Corona, 102mm x Ring 40), handmade in Cuba.
Montecristo is the best known and probably the most appreciated Cuban brand. Its success has a lot to do with its unique tangy flavour. This is partly created by storing ligero leaves for filler in special type of cedar wood boxes, partly because of unique technique of arranging filler leaf. Its distinctive medium to full flavour forms for many Cuban cigar smokers the benchmark against which other brands are judged.
The No.5 is an ideal size for a shorter smoke, with the perfect correlation between length and ringsize, an ideal after-lunch or pre-dinner cigar.

Guantanamera Minutos (Thick Half  Corona, 100mm x Ring42)
Launched in Europe at the end of 2002, Guantanamera is the newest of the more affordable Cuban cigars. The cigars are made with tobacco from Vuelta Arriba, the second most important tobacco-growing region in Cuba, better known for supplying tobacco for European cigars. All sizes are "mecanizado" – totally machine made with short filler at a modern factory recently created in Havana. The wrapper is in general finer than that on some of the older machine-made cigars - no lumps and bruises or thick veins. Relatively thick for its length the Minutos the short filler is ideal giving an easy, mostly consistent draw. It’s a comfortable smoke – very mild and light bodied, yet the taste is deliciously, spicy Cuban.

The size of this long filler Petit Corona is closer to a slightly longer, more slender Half Corona. Remember not to draw too hard; if necessary make a larger cut – but not beyond the cap line. The cigar has Dominican long filler, with an Indonesian binder, and Indonesian Maduro wrapper. As with most Maduro cigars, this is slow-burning and flavourful, with a slightly caramel taste. A perfect companion for a good half hour smoke.