Well, I’m a little late getting this review up, but for good reason. It seemed all the forces of the cigar universe bended their will against it. And in that regard, it kind of reminds me of the cigar up for review this week. But we’ll get to the similarity between the smoking experience and getting this review up in a minute.

The cigar up for review this time is the Palmas Puro Maduro Petite Corona. Some time ago, friend and fellow cigar blogger bombed me with a generous collection of cigars that handily included two little Palmas Puros. If you’re not familiar with “cigar bombs”, it’s basically a random act of unexpected premium tobacco kindness. The idea is to pick a target and send them a selection of cigars you enjoy, or ones you think they will enjoy. (Hopefully it works both ways!) So my thanks to Cigar Jack for these cigars! All right, let’s check ’em out.

Cigar Stats:
Size: 4 1/2 x 44
Wrapper: Ecuador Brazil
Binder: Honduras
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Smoking Time: 1 hour
Beverage: Water
Price: ~$3.25

The smoky little guy in question

The Pre-Smoke
The first two things I thought when I pulled these out of the bomb was “hey that’s a cool looking little cigar” and then “a very little cigar”. What we have here is a cigar that’s sized correctly to fit the allotted smoking time of the busy cigar enthusiast, potentially an alternative to the Short Story.

So slipped the cellophane off and realized it cedar tube wasn’t taped or glued together like some other cigars, which was a little unfortunate for two reasons. One, it means you have to keep the cigar in the cellophane (some people store their cigars without cellophane) and two, it means I had to take a picture through the plastic. On the other hand, there’s no real danger of the cedar tube harming the wrapper.

The loosely wrapped cedar tube didn’t prevent this!

Or maybe I spoke too soon. I did notice that one cigar had some wrapper damage at the foot.

Moving on, I took a good deep sniff of the wrapper and got a nice rich chocolate scent. After clipping the cigar with my flamboyantly-red Xikar I took a cold taste. More dark chocolate.

The Burn
You’ve probably noticed in many of my recent reviews that I gloss over this section. So far my luck has been good. Good draws and even burns have been name of the game.

That is, until now. This cigar had an incredibly obnoxious burn. Immediately after lighting it, the cool looking cigar disappeared behind of velvety river of smoke that poured out of the foot like a ruptured water main. OK, I thought, it’s a good thing I’m smoking next window with an out draft fan.

Don’t we have a few years left before Halley’s Comet returns?

As the cigar smoked, I started to notice that it swelled significantly at the burning end. At points it kinda looked like a tall pyramid.

And then somebody shut turned off the water. In the middle third of the cigar it abruptly went out. From that point onward, it was relight and puff. Sometimes the cigar stayed lit for a few puffs, but it seemed determined to give my lighter a work out.

A stealth crack in the wrapper

And then to pour a little extra salt on the wound, the wrapper cracked on one of the cigars I smoked about half way through.

The Flavor
In the flavor department, it’s fair to say this isn’t a very complex cigar. I found it to have very consistent dark chocolate flavor that slowly transitioned into an earthier leather in the final third. On it’s way there, the flavors were occasionally accompanied by spice, pepper and faint sweetness.

The Price
This cigar comfortably fits in the budget buy range. Even the largest cigars in the line can be had for around five bucks a stick, which isn’t too shabby either.

The Verdict
I hate to say it, but I really didn’t like this cigar. It wasn’t that it had bad flavors, it just that they weren’t enough to make up for the bad burn. This cigar was such a high maintenance, drama queen of a smoke. And usually a bad burn isn’t enough of a reason for me to write off a cigar.

I spoke to Cigar Jack about the cigar, and he agreed that it was an incredibly smokey stick, but he hadn’t had the same issues with it going out that I had. He has really enjoyed them and has even bought another box. At some point in the future, I may have to revisit them, but I can’t recommend this cigar based on the two I smoked.

Liked It: No, it irritated the hell out of me.
Buy It Again: Unlikely
Recommend It: No

The Tower of Burn
Here for your viewing pleasure is my trademark Tower of Burn.

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