My Father Le Bijou 1922 LE Corona Gorda - Review

My Father Le Bijou 1922 LE Corona Gorda

Size: 5.5 x 47
MSRP: $10



I purchased a box of these in Aug-2013. This is the last one I have remaining.

As I slip the cellophane off, I can see a slight amount of yellowing to reveal a very dark brown, slightly oily, but not shiny, mostly smooth wrapper. The description says it is a Habano Oscuro wrapper hailing from Ecuador. I gently squeeze the cigar and find that is fairly firm along the length with just a bit of give. It is a bit firmer near the head. The foot smells of baking cocoa and a touch of pepper spice. I snipped the end of the cap with a straight guillotine cutter. The cold draw reveals more cocoa, leather and the same light pepper spice.



First Third -

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Immediately I am blasted with tons red pepper on the retrohale, burning the interior of my nares. I taste leather, like my nose is buried in a bomber jacket. About halfway through the first third, the pepper begins to taper off, but still very noticeable. Among the leather I get hints of sweetness with peeks of bitter chocolate. The finish is dry, almost chalky. I begin to have a bit of uneven burn, nothing too bad, just burning at an angle. This could be due in part to the fact that I am sitting under the protection of an eave on my deck with a light rain drizzling down. My weather app tells me it is 97% relative humidity.



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Already only 1/3 in and I am beginning to feel the effects of the nicotine. The ash has held for the entire first third.

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Middle Third- As I begin the second third, an earthy woodsy tone makes an appearance while the leather is still prominant. There is still bits of sweetness on the finish. The pepper has faded to just being detected at the tail end of the retrohale. For the most part, the burn line has straightened out requiring no intervention.

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Final Third – The pepper is nearly gone. Notes of cocoa and wood reminding me of black walnut continue to cycle in and out. The leather has consistently been tasted throughout the cigar. As I progress, the leather is beginning to recede, taking a step back to the woodsy cocoa. The strength is becoming very noticeable despite me having had a late dinner not too long prior.

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I begin to slow down my pace, perhaps a bit too much, as the uneven burn returned and even going out when I left it unattended for few minutes to go in and grab a jacket. I believe the damp, cool night air also contributed to this. This was too good to let it go, so I re-lit to finish. The burn straightened out, and the leather returned. My lips begin to feel a tingle. I take it not quite to the nub before setting it down.
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The overall burn time is right at 90 minutes. I would put this more toward the full end of the strength spectrum. I haven’t smoked one from this box in almost a year and am reminded of how much I liked these and wish I still had more.