Annotating a Note | GTO Cigars Corona de GTO 10 Años Corojo
WRAPPER: Corojo
BINDER: Dominican
FILLER: Dominican
FORMAT: Toro (654)
ORIGIN: Tabacalera GTO Dominicana
INTENSITY: Medium
Here I will (again) be singularly focused on the first note to grab my attention, following its evolution (& attachments) to the end. "Follow that note!"
Citrus. That note we are to follow is citrus. At the onset, it teams (in secondary fashion) with sweet butter. It keeps almost peeking out. Almost... then with a solid 3/4" of ash accumulated--lemonade. The butter turns creamier, then milky, then off towards a chocolate note which is of no concern here. Lemonade. Table sugar. Then a cedar sidles up a handful of puffs later. Salty. Minerally.
That amount of time again later, a terra cotta clay earthiness comes into the other side and sandwiches our lemonade note between that and cedar salted minerality. And then time seems to stop, or part of it. Sure, the ash lengthens and shaft shortens but flavors hold in a freeze-frame formation. There is an occasional running-through of honey malt and white peppercorn, like tics on a stoic face. Blips on a calm radar screen. Then, coming out of the half, a thing happens...
The sweet butter returns to influence our note. But that's not all. Suede envelopes our static sammich. Butteriness loses its direct influence but is complexly filtered-through that pale savory layer. Then lemonade becomes, slowly, an Orange Julius from the mall's food court. White peppercorns get a black flake addition. This all occurs a hair toward the cap-side of mid-point. It bears mention that this cgar is full of character, which will be noted in its final grade. It scans a tick like a cheeky bastard.
Our note has been on the long, cushy finish all-along. Now, as the final third gets close, it begins displaying there in a more roasted orange manner. What I've already described stays on the front-end in a consistent fashion. But the roasted orange off-shoot/extension does bleed into the back-end from the finish. There, it attracts that chocolate note. Remember that one? It's milk chocolate and soon they form a chocolate covered candied orange note. The two citruses grow closer and closer and shake hands as I toothpick the nub.
As said, that was different. For familiarity's sake, below is my typical way of rating. As, naturally, pertains to this smoke in its entirety.
TASTE: A-
DRAW: B+
BURN: B+
BUILD: B+
FINAL GRADE: A-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59
FURTHER READING:
I also reviewed this blend in the usual manner. Feel free to search that up via the Search Kaplowitz Media. field to your right: "Corona de GTO Cigars 10 Años Corojo in Quick Review." Also, This is the second of this Annotating a Note nonsense series. The first was "Annotating a Note | Bocock Brothers Cigars World Traveler Maduro (Churchill)."
::: very :::