RAFAEL GONZALEZ - Coronas de Lonsdales. 2023
I was recommended this cigar at the local CDH. I wanted a quality Cuban at a lower price bracket that I didn’t have to age for 5 years… They got the brief correct with the Coronas de Lonsdales.

1/3 - Draw perfect - light spice, wood and earthly light to med strength - creamy smoke
2/3 Burn is even - taste develops coffee notes, baked goods, and wood.
3/3 Burn continues to be excellent - taste continues as before.
Great cigar - went back and got 3 more boxes so I hope to update any developments.

For my wedding earlier this year, my wife surprised me with a Rafael Gonzalez Lonsdale. A vintage from the year 2000 no less, and given that these were discontinued 2006, made this a very special gift indeed. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to smoke the Lonsdale at the wedding as I had my own sticks with me. So into the humidor it went while I waited for an opportune time to light it up as this certainly wasn’t going to be a quick Friday night smoke. A stick this fine needed to be romanced.

The opportunity would come about a week before Christmas, with the end of the cold snap that we had had here in the UK. So after a hearty breakfast, I put on a pot of coffee and stoked a small fire in my burner outside. It was against this backdrop of a sputtering fire and the crack-drip of melting snow that I settled into my chair and gently lit my wedding gift.

The first third was smooth and almost silky, it reminded me of a Davidoff Signature No. 2. I took my time and let the flavours of the cigar develop, so much so that by the time I got to the second third my coffee mug was empty. With the advent of the second third, I put another log on the fire and fetched myself a glass of rum. Specifically Admiral Rodney Officer's Release No.1, a column-distilled rum from St Lucia that was a perfect compliment to the mildly spiced notes that I was getting from the Lonsdale. These spiced notes developed into leather and popcorn kernels in the final third. Although, the cigar still retained that smoothness that I had experienced when I first lit it up.

All in all this cigar lasted me around two hours, although I said I really did take my time smoking this one. It was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish; the draw and burn were even and consistent all the way through. There was some minor peeling of the wrapper as I got to the head of the cigar but I put that down to this being a twenty year old stick. I am immensely grateful to my wife for gifting me such a wonderful and unique experience, because I’m certainly not going to get another chance to smoke one of these.