Bolivar Corona Junior

Bolivar Corona Junior 
4 3/8 x 42

Made in Cuba

Paid: $7 CDN
Age: Purchased yesterday from local B&M

Drink: Water

In my hunt to find a petite corona to buy a box, and put away, I'm giving this one a try based on good reviews.

The draw, and construction looks perfect.  The burn was was fairly uneven, and had to be corrected drastically twice.  The smoke was really thick, and cloudy.

The inhale was much better then the exhale.  The dominant flavour was a toasted sawdust aroma, much like cutting a bunch of 2x4's.  Not quite that pleasant but close.  I could tell this cigar was young, as I did detect a slight ammonia aroma throughout, but it didn't nearly detract from the smoke, like I had with the Montecristo Open Junior the day before.  Pretty one dimensional flavour wise.

This cigar left a mild mushroom after taste on my tongue, which I was unsure if I enjoyed or not. (EDIT: I've finally come to learn that mushroom taste is earthiness.  Had a buddy help me out with that, cause he thought I was crazy, so we shared a cigar.)

It felt like a mild strength smoke, and the last third seemed the most enjoyable.  Despite the burn issues, and slight ammonia odor, I found this smoke pleasant, and would consider revisiting again down the road.  I think a little time on this cigar would make a huge difference.

Right now I would rank the Montecristo No 5 way ahead of this one, but I have still yet to try the Partagas Short, or Siglo I, which are next on my petite cigar hit list.

Montecristo Open Junior

Montecristo Open Junior
Petite Conona 4 1/3 x 38

Made in Cuba

Paid: $10 CDN
Age: Purchased today from local B&M
Drink: Diet Pepsi

These have been sitting at a local B&M in an open box for awhile.  I've checked out the reviews, and the common theme was it's a beginner cigar.  As such it's received poor reviews from everyone who is a seasoned cigar smoker, but I've never heard from a new smoker... which I am.  My local B&M tried to steer me away from this purchase, as he thought it was too mild, and has not had good feedback from customers.

The draw was fairly tight, and the burn was uneven from start to finish.  Gave off decent smoke.  It burned quick, and lasted about 45 minutes.

The first half was OK.  It's very mild.  There was no harshness to it, and has a predominant woody flavour, and that's about it.  By the second half, it went out about 4 times, which ruined it for me.  I ended up putting this cigar down at the last inch.  The second half appeared to have no flavour at all.

I don't know if I would call this cigar smooth.  My main beef with this smoke was the unbelievably strong ammonia odor it gave off.  I have heard people complain of the smell with other cigars, but yet to ever experience it myself.  Made it very difficult to be around the lingering smoke, and made the experience on the whole unpleasant.  I understand this is from being a young smoke, but it's been sitting in his humidor for about a year now.

I simply cannot recommend this cigar.  If this was handed to me a year ago as an intro to cigars, I would not think to continue, and assume cigars were not for me.  Perhaps with a few years of aging the ammonia will go away, and become enjoyable. With the Montecristo No. 5 in the same size and price range, the Open Junior is disastrous, and really doesn't have a niche if it lack's flavour for a seasoned smoker, yet to young to be enjoyed by a new comer.