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| Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo |
The Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo marks a major change for Asylum Cigars. Up until the release of this cigar, the company had primarily focused on Nicaraguan tobacco cigars. For the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo, this is a Honduran puro. Given that Asylum 13 is affiliated with Christian Eiroa’s Fabricas Unidas, this might not be considered a total surprise – as Eiroa and his family have long been associated with Authentic Corojo grown in Honduras. In any case, we recently had an opportunity to smoke some of these new cigars from Asylum. Overall, the cigar is a quality product – and it could open up the line and company to a different group of cigar enthusiasts.
It was in April when word first came out about a Honduran corojo Asylum 13 cigar. In early June, Asylum has started to slowly roll out these cigars. It is expected that after the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show, the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo will have more widespread distribution.
In any case, let’s take a closer look at the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The Authentic Corojo gets its name from the Authentic Corojo seed grown on the Eiroa family farm). The cigar is being produced at Fabricas Unidas’ new Aladino factory in Honduras. Most of Asylum’s cigars are produced in Nicaragua, but this marks the first Asylum Cigar to be produced in Honduras.
Wrapper: Honduran (Authentic Corojo seed grown on the Eiroa family farm)
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Vitolas Available
The gradual roll-out of the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo has seen these two sizes:
5 x 50
6 x 60
Earlier this year, we reported that two additional sizes had been mentioned to retailers around the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo. At this time, we have not seen these sizes.
6 x 70
6 x 80
Appearance
For this cigar experience we smoked the robusto-size 5 x 50 of the Authentic Corojo. The wrapper to the Authentic Corojo is a medium brown color with a slight orange-ish hue to it. The wrapper also has some oil on the surface. If you look closer, you can see some darker marbling on the wrapper. There are some visible veins and the wrapper seams are visible upon closer examination.
Currently the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo uses the same band as the rest of the Asylum 13 line. According to a conversation we had with Christian Eiroa in June, he mentioned that the bands would be changing. We have no reports at this time on the status of this.
The current Asylum 13 core line is a black and white colored band with some red. In white font is “Asylum 13” on a black background. There is a thin red dotted design on the front of the band. There are what I would categorize as white skull/flower-like designs that adorn the band as well.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
As I normally do with most of my cigars, I opted to go with a straight cut to remove the cap. I then moved on to begin the pre-light draw. The cold draw yielded a combination of wood, citrus, cedar, and even some mint. Overall, I did find this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up my Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo and see what the smoking experience would deliver.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo provided a mix of orange citrus, natural tobacco, and pepper notes. The amount of the orange citrus seemed to vary from smoke to smoke. At the same time, in each smoke the orange citrus added some sweetness as opposed to any signficant acidic notes. For the most part, the orange citrus seemed to be the primary note early on with the natural tobacco and pepper secondary. Meanwhile the retro-hale was delivering a nice red pepper through the nasal passages.
As the Asylum 13 moved through the first third, some chocolate notes surfaced and joined the orange citrus. The natural tobacco and pepper were secondary flavors. As the cigar entered the second third, some nut flavors would surface from time to time.
In the second half, the natural tobacco and pepper flavors moved into the forefront. These flavors were also joined by some earth flavors. Meanwhile, the chocolate and orange notes had definitely receded. This is the way the flavor profile held until the end. There was some spice at the end, but the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo did not get harsh. Each time, the resulting nub was ideal – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
From a burn perspective, I found the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo scored rather well on a consistent basis. The burn line remained straight from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups along the way. The resulting ash was a gray color. The ash was not overly tight, but didn’t have any significant flaking. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
As for the draw, it was not too tight and not too loose. This made the Asylum 13 a low maintenance cigar to smoke from start to finish.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, I found that the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo had some pop, but it wasn’t a nicotine bomb. Overall I assessed the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo to have enough strength to qualify it to be a medium to full strength cigar. Strength-wise, I felt the Asylum 13 Corojo was a notch below the Nicaraguan Asylum 13 version.
As for the body, the flavors had some depth to them. I also assessed the cigar to be a medium to full-bodied cigar. This actually had some more flavor depth than the Nicaraguan Asylum 13 robusto counterpart.
Overall, the Asylum 13 Corojo does a very good job at balancing the strength and the body. It maintains an equilibrium between these two attributes from start to finish.
Final Thoughts
It’s fair to say that the Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo is a very different cigar (different tobacco, different factory) from the rest of the Asylum 13 line – and even Asylum as a whole. If you look at Fabricas Unidas as a whole, there are several Corojo options. The nice thing is that each of these options deliver a different experience from the Corojo tobacco used. The Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo delivers a nice smoking experience. I think it falls short compared to Fabrica Unidas’ CLE Corojo, but the Asylum option is still a good cigar. Fans of Corojo tobacco might want to check this out. This is a cigar I’d probably steer more toward the experienced cigar enthusiast, but if a novice wanted to try something a little fuller, I’d encourage them to do this. As for myself, this is a cigar I’d keep around as a good change of pace cigar.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 89
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Outland Cigars in Charlotte, North Carolina.
