Today, we review the Somm BDX in the Corona Gorda size. Somm Cigars was started by Vlada Stojanov. Stojanov has been an accomplished sommelier in the cigar industry for several years. Over the past year, he has brought his own portfolio to market with Somm Cigars. The Somm BDX Corona Gorda is a special limited-line extension released in 2024. The BDX Corona Gorda size was initially released as a personal cigar Stojanov made for his birthday. After a few people tried the cigars, Stojanov decided to have a small production run made.

Currently, there are two main pillars in the portfolio of Somm Cigars. Each of the pillars pays homage to a different wine region. The Somm BDX line (which consists of Somm BDX and Somm BDX Blanc) pays tribute to the Bordeaux region in France. The Somm Rioja line pays homage to Spain’s Rioja region. The BDX line is a cigar produced from Honduras by Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. (Cavalier Genève’s factory). As for the Rioja line, it is being made out of Eladio Diaz’s Tabacalera Diaz Cabrera factory in the Dominican Republic.

For now, we will turn our attention to the BDX Corona Gorda and see what this cigar offers.

Somm BDX Corona Gorda – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Somm BDX blend is a multi-national band with tobaccos from three countries: Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras. A Mexican San Andres wrapper highlights the blend.

Wrapper: Mexican San Andres (aged for three years)
Binder: Nicaraguan Viso Jalapa (aged for three years)
Filler:
– Mexican San Andres (aged for three years)
– Nicaraguan Viso Jalapa (aged for three years)
– Honduran Broadleaf (aged for two years)
Country of Origin: Honduras
Factory: Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A.

Vitolas Offered

As mentioned, the Corona Gorda is a limited offering. A total of 2,600 cigars (260 ten-packs) were released. The other three sizes are regular production offerings that come in ten-count boxes.

Corona Gorda: 5 5/8 x 46 (Limited)
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 52
Gordo: 6 x 60 (Box Pressed)

Appearance (*)

The Mexican San Andres wrapper of the BDX Corona Gorda had a dark roasted coffee bean look. There was a light amount of oil on the surface. At the same time, this slightly rugged wrapper gave the cigar its charm. The surface had some prominent visible veins. The darker color of the wrapper did an excellent job of hiding the wrapper seams.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut removed the cigar cap before lighting up the BDX Corona Gorda. Once the cap was removed, it was time to proceed with the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw of the cigar delivered notes of coffee and a mix of pepper and baking spices. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the BDX Corona Gorda and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The BDX Corona Gorda opened with notes of coffee, anise, earth, wood, and a combination of white pepper and baker’s spice. By about the midway point of the first third, the coffee and anise moved into the forefront. The wood, earth, and spices (pepper and baker’s spice) settled in the background. Meanwhile, there was an additional layer of white pepper.

During the second third of the BDX Corona Gorda, the anise notes slowly receded and entered the forefront past the midway point. Meanwhile, the pepper and baker’s notes slowly increased. Meanwhile, the coffee and wood notes remained at the forefront.

By the start of the final third, the pepper notes joined the coffee notes in the forefront. The pepper and baker’s spices were close secondary notes, while the anise, wood, and earth were more distant. This is the way the BDX Corona Gorda came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

Overall, the burn line of the BDX Corona Gorda was slightly uneven and meandering. While these things were remedied with some touch-ups, I found the BDX Corona Gorda required more touch-ups than I prefer. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, but it was not loose or flaky either. This was an ash that was silver-gray in color. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature both maintained ideal levels.

Draw

While the draw of the BDX Corona Gorda had some resistance to it, there were a few points where the resistance was too much. But it didn’t cause the cigar to go out.

Strength and Body

The BDX Corona Gorda delivered a medium-strong, medium-bodied smoking experience from start to finish. There was a slight increase in intensity along the way, but in the end, the BDX Corona Gorda never got out of the medium range for both strength and body. In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

First up, I like the burgundy-colored bands of the Somm BDX. They evoke a vision of a red wine in my head. Second, when it came to the packaging of the BDX Corona Gorda, this is something I didn’t like as much. Somm has done some stunning boxes for the other sizes of the BDX, but the Corona Gorda comes in a craft-paper bundle. My feelings on craft paper bundles have been well documented. I don’t like them. However, I understand the rationale as this was only a 2,600 cigar release.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The BDX Corona Gorda was my introduction to Somm Cigars, and I was quite impressed. What struck me is that this came from Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. (FCT – Cavalier Genève’s factory) in Honduras. I thought I had this factory’s flavor profile nailed down, but I was wrong. The flavor profile delivered something completely different than I would expect from FCT. From talking to Vlad Stojanov, I see he spent a lot of time developing the blend. It did lose a slight amount of points on burn and draw, but this cigar delivers where it counts – flavor. It’s a cigar I could recommend for any cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is certainly a cigar I would buy and smoke again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Coffee, Anise, Earth, Wood, Baker’s Spice, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good