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| CLE Corojo |
The CLE Corojo is one of two new blends launched by Christian Eiroa’s new company CLE Cigars. Eiroa is best known for his tenure as president of Camacho Cigars.
After Davidoff acquired Camacho, Eiroa stayed on for a while before leaving to launch CLE. CLE stands for the initials of Eiroa’s
full-name – Christian Luis Eiroa. As a part of this company’s launch, two blends were announced and launched prior to the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show – with the CLE Corojo being one of the blends. I’ve had a chance to sample the CLE Corojo and there is no doubt, this is an excellent cigar and might be one of the most underrated cigars released in 2012.
When it comes to Corojo tobacco, the Eiroa family has long been associated with this type of tobacco as both a grower and cigar maker. This was especially true during the days Eiroa was at Camacho Cigars. Therefore, it naturally makes sense that Christian Eiroa has opted to make a Corojo blend.
The CLE Corojo along with the habano seed CLE Cuarenta are both made in Honduras, at the Tabacos Ranchos Jamastran
factory.
Let’s break down the CLE Corojo and see what the cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
Thus far, much of the information on the CLE blends have not been disclosed. We do know that the wrapper of the CLE Corojo is a Corojo seed wrapper.
Wrapper: Corojo Seed
Binder: Unknown
Filler: Unknown
Vitolas Available
The following are the sizes that have been initially released for the CLE Corojo:
11/18: 6 x 50
Robusto: 5 x 50
6 x 60: 6 x 60
Corona 5 3/4 x 46
Appearance
For this cigar experience, I smoked the CLE Corojo Corona. The CLE Corojo Corona has a brown bag colored wrapper. I would say this is medium brown in color. I still have it (incorrectly) in my mind that Corojo wrappers often have a colorado red tint to it, so I admit I was a little surprised at the color of the CLE Corojo wrapper. There is a slighly oily sheen to the wrapper. The wrapper has visible veins, but the wrapper seams are well hidden.
The band to the CLE has a black background with silver striping across the top and bottom. In the center of the band is the company name “CLE” in silver font. To the left of the CLE text is “2012” in a small red-colored font. To the right of the “CLE” text is “COROJO” in silver font to the right.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Before lighting up my CLE Corojo Corona, I placed a straight cut into the cap of the cigar. When I commenced with the pre-light draw, I was treated to some natural tobacco flavors along with hints of cedar and wood. Overall, the dry draw didn’t wow me all that much, however since the pre-light experience does not factor into our assessment ratings or scores, there are no loss of points here. At this time it was time to fire up my CLE Corojo and see what the actual smoking experience would bring to the table.
Flavor Profile
After lighting my CLE Corojo, I was treated to a combination of citrus and natural tobacco sweetness. This was shortly followed up by some notes of raw caramel. The caramel, citrus, and natural tobacco sweetness formed formed a very interesting combination. By about the ten percent point the caramel and natural tobacco flavors were primary and the citrus notes became secondary.
Toward the end of the first third, the complexity of the flavor profile increased. It was around this time some oak notes joined the flavor profile as secondary flavors and the citrus notes became tertiary and more subtle. The caramel and natural tobacco sweetness continued to remain in the forefront. Around the midway point, caramel and natural tobacco sweetness started to alternate as to which was the dominant flavor.
It was also in the second half where some baker’s spice joined the flavor profile. The flavor profile consisted of the (alternating) primary flavors of natural tobacco sweetness and caramel; secondary flavors of oak and baker’s spice; and teritary notes of citrus. This flavor profile would hold until the end of the smoke. This was a highly complex flavor profile on the close of the cigar. The resulting nub was also outstanding – cool in temperature and firm to the touch.
Burn and Draw
The construction of the CLE Corojo was outstanding – and this was reflected in the attributes of burn and draw. The CLE Corojo scores high grades for its burn. The burn remained straight from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal from start to finish. The draw gets equally top marks as well. This was a cigar I truly enjoyed puffing on.
Strength and Body
The CLE Corojo does a great job at delivering the right amount of strength and a right amount of depth to its flavors. From a strength perspective, this cigar definitely has a little bit of kick – but not too much. I assessed the CLE Corojo to be medium to full in strength. From a depth of flavors standpoint, the story is similar – and I assessed the cigar to be medium to full-bodied. The strength and body are as well-balanced as you can get when smoking this cigar.
Final Thoughts
While I liked the CLE Cuarenta, I loved the CLE Corojo. This cigar is a home run for Christian Eiroa. As I said up front, this cigar really flies under the radar, but should not be a cigar that is overlooked. This cigar seems to have everything going for it: great flavor, complexity, balance,and outstanding construction. I would not hesitate recommending this to a novice cigar enthusiast looking to graduate to a medium to full strength/body cigar. This is definitely a cigar I’d recommend to any seasoned cigar enthusiast. As for myself, I consider this a cigar that I would purchase a box for – and definitely would smoke again.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 94
Source: The cigars for this assessment was given to me by an authorized representative of CLE Cigars. Cigar Coop is appreciative for the sample, but
in no way does this
influence this review.
