Plasencia Reserva Original
The Plasencia family has grown tobacco since 1865, moving from Cuba to Nicaragua and Honduras and becoming one of the industry’s largest fully integrated growers and makers. They launched their own brand in 2017. Reserva Original was part of that first wave: a Nicaraguan puro made entirely from OCIA-certified organic leaf grown on family farms in Estelí and Jalapa and aged five years after fermentation. The Corona (6¼ × 44) was one of the original vitolas released with the line at the 2017 IPCPR show.
Stogie At A Glance
Review
First Third
Toasted bread notes on the light, with a slight earthy nutty note on the finish and pepper on the retrohale. Salted peanut notes with spices and earth on the palate. Slight sweetness as well, but not very present. The toasted bread note continues with some earth and a little black coffee on the finish. A little more tobacco sweetness comes through, still with salted peanut and toasted bread, almost an earthy caramel finish. Phenomenal aroma. Stronger nutty notes and earthy notes, with a creamy coffee finish. Arid smoke texture. Wish the smoke was a little thicker or more robust. A slight floral note is coming through, something a little lighter than everything else so far. Still a peanut coffee note on the palate and finish. Very smooth.
Second Third
Getting into the second third, sweet notes come out a little more and some campfire notes or toasted wood as well. Chocolate notes start to emerge more than they did in the first third, with a present sweetness on the finish. The woody note is starting to become stronger in the second third. Clean medium finish. A slight florality is coming in with sweetness and some earth, still very smooth overall. Smoke texture is thickening slightly in the second third. Sweetness continues on the finish, with some nutty earthy notes and maybe still a slight creaminess on the palate. Getting near the end of the second third, there is still a creaminess here, and a new addition would be a slight cinnamon note as well, in a very smooth finish. Creamy coffee notes coming out a lot stronger at the end of the second third. The sweetness is still there but has died down. Still more than the beginning but less than the beginning of the second third.
Final Third
Wood notes start to pick back up again in the final third. Still not much pepper, and a coffee note on the finish. A slight leather note is coming through, along with coffee and a slight white pepper on the finish. Still a woody or cedar note coming through in the final third as well, and most of the sweetness from the second third has dropped off. A small floral note is coming through as well, mixing with the earthy coffee and still creamy notes from before. More earthy notes, with more pepper on the finish as I near the end of the cigar. Coffee, cream, and light white pepper spice make up the end of the cigar.
Score
91/100