H. Uppman is reputed to have been JFK's favorite smoke, and he was said to have asked his aide to buy over 1,000 sticks of his favorite Petit Uppman just a day or so before the infamous Cuban embargo kicked in. I smoked their Petit Corona today, and here are some of my thoughts on it. 
The quick and dirty:
This is a really nice smoke! You can get a box of 25 online for around $150, or under $6.50 per stick. Contrast this with the much smaller Cohiba Maduro 5 Secretos coming in at around $10.60 per stick, or the equally tiny Siglo I at around $8 per stick, you can see that this is one smoke that's worth every dollar paid. I would rate this at around an 85. Bear in mind too that the box I got was very young.
Construction:
This is a fairly large petit corona at 5" x 42, compared with the tiny 4"x42 Siglo I or the 4.1"x40 Secretos. The wrapper was slightly oily, with beautiful tight seams and practically no veins. The wrapper was chocolate brown, smelled of barnyard and tobacco, and smooth with almost no tooth or grain. The triple cap was beautifully applied. There was a slightly soft spot about an inch from the foot, where I could feel the wrapper and binder buckle under slight pressure. Aside from that, the construction was perfect.
The draw was very nice with just a touch of resistance. The prelight draw had flavors of raisin and more barnyard.
Box Code: SUB Mar 12
Opening and 1/3:
This cigar hits the ground running. The very first draw was full of earth, with a slight touch of pepper, fading into a very pleasant chocolate flavor. Smoke output was smooth and very generous, with a large amount of smoke coming off the tip even without drawing. The smoke coming off the tip was very pleasant with floral notes, like lighting an incense stick, and progressed on to be full of cedar. Retrohale was cool and full of good cedar as well.
Notes of cream faded in and out, and near the middle of the first third, caramel notes started to creep in. There was none of those grassy flavors that I experienced with the RyJ Short Churchill. Very pleasant, especially considering the very young box that I got!
2/3:
The flavors started to intensify slightly, with lots of earth and cedar, and a little more caramel. The smoke was smooth, but not anywhere as smooth as the Siglo I. Perhaps this was because this cigar is still very young at just 6 months old. The smoke is quite dry, but not at all unpleasant. I expect that with another 6 months of aging this stick will absolutely wow me.
The smoke output from the tip was plentiful, and the cedar scents had intensified somewhat by now, mixed in with floral notes. All in all it's very nice. I was wondering if I could use the Petit Corona as a very expensive incense stick. It reminded me of the Oliva Serie V, which also blew me away with how nice they smelt.
The burn line remained perfectly straight, again surprising considering the very young age of the cigar. Most other Cubans I've had got a bit wavy, and even canoed a bit. This stick was perfectly straight. At one point I put down the cigar for a couple of minutes, and it never went out. Perfect!!
3/3:
The pepper now got quite strong, and the caramel stayed on instead of fading in and out as before. The chocolate flavors have faded somewhat by this point. I smoked this down to just under an inch, with a total smoke time of about 40 minutes. I was left with a light pleasant nicotine buzz at the end of it.
Overall I am very impressed with this stick! Relatively long for a petit corona, with medium to full flavors that hit the ground running, and medium strength. I'm definitely looking forward to smoking another one of these, especially after they've been laid down for a few more months. At less than $6.50 per stick, you really cannot argue against its value for money. I rate this an 85. Will come back again in a few months and post a follow-up review.
This is a very popular smoke so I'm sure many of you have experience of it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
The quick and dirty:
This is a really nice smoke! You can get a box of 25 online for around $150, or under $6.50 per stick. Contrast this with the much smaller Cohiba Maduro 5 Secretos coming in at around $10.60 per stick, or the equally tiny Siglo I at around $8 per stick, you can see that this is one smoke that's worth every dollar paid.
I would rate this at around an 85. Bear in mind too that the box I got was very young.Construction:
This is a fairly large petit corona at 5" x 42, compared with the tiny 4"x42 Siglo I or the 4.1"x40 Secretos. The wrapper was slightly oily, with beautiful tight seams and practically no veins. The wrapper was chocolate brown, smelled of barnyard and tobacco, and smooth with almost no tooth or grain. The triple cap was beautifully applied. There was a slightly soft spot about an inch from the foot, where I could feel the wrapper and binder buckle under slight pressure. Aside from that, the construction was perfect.
The draw was very nice with just a touch of resistance. The prelight draw had flavors of raisin and more barnyard.
Box Code: SUB Mar 12
Opening and 1/3:
This cigar hits the ground running. The very first draw was full of earth, with a slight touch of pepper, fading into a very pleasant chocolate flavor. Smoke output was smooth and very generous, with a large amount of smoke coming off the tip even without drawing. The smoke coming off the tip was very pleasant with floral notes, like lighting an incense stick, and progressed on to be full of cedar. Retrohale was cool and full of good cedar as well.
Notes of cream faded in and out, and near the middle of the first third, caramel notes started to creep in. There was none of those grassy flavors that I experienced with the RyJ Short Churchill. Very pleasant, especially considering the very young box that I got!
2/3:
The flavors started to intensify slightly, with lots of earth and cedar, and a little more caramel. The smoke was smooth, but not anywhere as smooth as the Siglo I. Perhaps this was because this cigar is still very young at just 6 months old. The smoke is quite dry, but not at all unpleasant. I expect that with another 6 months of aging this stick will absolutely wow me.
The smoke output from the tip was plentiful, and the cedar scents had intensified somewhat by now, mixed in with floral notes. All in all it's very nice. I was wondering if I could use the Petit Corona as a very expensive incense stick.
It reminded me of the Oliva Serie V, which also blew me away with how nice they smelt.The burn line remained perfectly straight, again surprising considering the very young age of the cigar. Most other Cubans I've had got a bit wavy, and even canoed a bit. This stick was perfectly straight. At one point I put down the cigar for a couple of minutes, and it never went out. Perfect!!
3/3:
The pepper now got quite strong, and the caramel stayed on instead of fading in and out as before. The chocolate flavors have faded somewhat by this point. I smoked this down to just under an inch, with a total smoke time of about 40 minutes. I was left with a light pleasant nicotine buzz at the end of it.
Overall I am very impressed with this stick! Relatively long for a petit corona, with medium to full flavors that hit the ground running, and medium strength. I'm definitely looking forward to smoking another one of these, especially after they've been laid down for a few more months. At less than $6.50 per stick, you really cannot argue against its value for money. I rate this an 85. Will come back again in a few months and post a follow-up review.
This is a very popular smoke so I'm sure many of you have experience of it. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
