The Premium Cigar Association (PCA) and Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) have announced that the company is returning as an exhibitor to the 2023 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) trade show. The return will focus around the brands of Forged Cigar Company.

The move officially brings one of the “Big Four” back to the cigar industry’s annual signature trade show. In 2020, STG along with Altadis USA, Davidoff, and Drew Estate announced they were withdrawing from the PCA Trade Show.

At PCA 2023, STG will feature the entire Forged Cigar Company portfolio at the show. This includes brands such as Alec Bradley, Room101, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Diesel, Bolivar Cofradia, El Rey del Mundo and Chillin’ Moose. For Forged Cigar Company, a distribution arm formed by STG in 2021, this will mark the first trade show for Forged as an entity.

In an announcement made by the PCA and STG, Régis Broersma, president of STG’s North America and Rest of World division is quoted as saying, “We are very pleased with the recent, retailer-focused changes the PCA organization has made to the annual tradeshow and have decided to renew our participation beginning this year. The PCA show provides an unmatched opportunity to interact with the trade, and gives us a chance to thank the retail community for their unwavering support of Forged Cigar Company. PCA will also serve as a ’coming out party’ for us this year because we will be at the show as one company with the Alec Bradley brands fully integrated into our portfolio. Needless to say, we will have much to celebrate and much to talk about in Vegas.”

STG’s decision to return to the PCA trade show follows the organization’s recently-announced plans to move the show to March starting in 2024, in response to industry-wide demand.

In 2022, STG was present at the Trade Show in a limited capacity at the Room101 booth, but showcased brands such as Sancho Panza and Los Status Deluxe.

”Moving future PCA shows to March was a pivotal factor in our decision to come back to the show. The new timing not only aligns with our business cycle but it is also advantageous for our customers which is of the utmost importance to us,” added Broersma.

The announcements today made no mention of the brands of General Cigar Company, the other distribution arm of STG.

The 2023 PCA Trade Show will be held July 7-11, 2023 at the Venetian Resort & Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PCA announced on Friday, March 24 the change of the 2024 trade show dates to March 22-25, 2024 from what has been traditionally held in July.

Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Cohiba Serie M Corona Gorda by General Cigar Company. This is a cigar blend previously assessed back in August 2021 in the Toro size.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Binder: Nicaraguan (Double)
Filler: Nicaragua (Jalapa, Estelí) and Dominican Piloto Cubano
Country of Origin: United States
Factory: El Titan de Bronze
Corona Gorda: 6 1/2 x 48

In 2021, Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) launched a limited edition project at El Titan de Bronze known as the Cohiba Serie M. This would mark the first Cohiba-branded cigar made on U.S. soil. The “M” stands for Miami, and that’s where the El Titan de Bronze factory is located. For Cohiba brand ambassador Sean Williams, this is a project that was a “sort of homecoming.” During the years while Williams had his own company, El Primer Mundo, he worked on many projects out of the El Titan de Bronze factory, so this is a place he was very familiar with. Since then the Cohiba Serie M has become an annual event with a Corona Gorda size that followed in 2022, and a Prominente size due to hit the shelves in 2023. STG has also launched projects for other brands out of El Titan de Bronze including La Gloria Cubana and Partagas. Today, we keep our attention on the Cohiba Serie M line as we look at the Corona Gorda release.

The Cohiba Serie M is a Nicaraguan-forward blend. Nicaraguan tobacco makes up the wrapper, binder, and filler.  The wrapper is a Nicaraguan Corojo, which marks the first time that leaf has been used on a Cohiba cigar. There is a double binder with both leaves from Nicaragua. The fillers contain leaves from two regions of Nicaragua (Jalapa and Estelí) and also contain some Dominican Piloto Cubano tobacco. A total of 5,000 ten-count boxes have been produced.

The Cohiba Serie M Corona Gorda opened up with a wide assortment of notes of natural tobacco, coffee, black pepper, earth, cedar, fruit, and nut. The natural tobacco notes moved to the forefront. The fruit notes were the most prominent of the secondary notes, and the black pepper was present on the retro-hale. The fruit diminished during the second third and there was an increase of pepper and earth, along with the emergence of some baker’s spice. As the cigar experience entered the final third, the earth notes displaced the natural tobacco in the forefront. The pepper and baker’s spice were more prominent, but didn’t overtake the earth notes. The Cohiba Serie M Corona Gorda closed out with a soft, cool nub.

Overall the flavors were on the upper end of medium-bodied countered by medium strength. There was a slight increase in the strength and body, but the cigar remained in the medium range for both attributes.

As for the burn, each of the samples was low maintenance requiring minimal touch-ups. There were five samples smoked for this assessment, and three of them did have a tight draw.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

If you read my assessment of the first Cohiba Serie M, the Toro, you will note this was a cigar plagued with construction problems. The good news is with the Corona Gorda, this wasn’t a problem. While three of the draws were tighter, this didn’t result in any re-lights. Instead, I just had to work this cigar harder than I prefer. In the end, this cigar exhibited more in the way of complexity, and the flavors kept me interested from start to finish. At $29.99, this is still not an inexpensive investment, so if you can I’d recommend trying a sample and seeing what you think. The good news is the Corona Gorda renewed my faith in this blend, and I look forward to the soon-to-be-released Prominente size.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Fruit, Earth, Coffee, Cedar, Baker’s Spice, Nut, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Good
Complexity: Medium to High
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Try a Sample
Score: 88

References

Previous Assessment: Cohiba Serie M
News: Cohiba Serie M Corona Gorda Set for Release
Price: $29.99
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Cohiba