Cigar Weekly

This classic brand was introduced in 1928 under the Flor de Marquez label. Rafael Gonzales is credited with the introduction of the Lonsdale size, named after Cecil Lowther, the Fifth Earl of Lonsdale.

Rafael Gonzales is known for its rich honey like flavors with woody undertones and are generally regarded as mild to medium bodied cigars. The line consists of a full range of sizes:

• Petite Coronas (5x42)
• Cigarritos (4 1/2x26)
• Panetelas (4 5/8x34)
• Lonsdale (6 1/2x42)
• Corona Extra (5 5/8x46)
• Slenderelles (6 7/8x28)
• Panetellas Extra (5x37) * Machine Made, Hand rolled

Note: These cigars were made in April 1999 and were acquired from C.Gars Ltd. Please contact them for purchase information.

Cigar Weekly reviews are blind taste tests conducted by our readers. Reviewers are sent three samples with all identifying marks removed. Reviewers are chosen randomly from the list of everyone that has signed the Cigar Weekly Guest Book. Their comments are below.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Brian Combs (BrianCombs): Nice construction. Perfect triple cap. Fairly smooth w/ a bit of tooth. Not too veiny. Slight rip at the foot of the first sample; the second was in great shape. Per-light flavor was medium strength, with the taste of pine nuts. Pre-light draw was a bit too tight.

Frank Columbo (Thechin): This cigar is beautiful! wrapper is very smooth and fine. No ridges or deep veins. Cap is well made and foot is perfect. This cigar also has a nice weight and feel.

John Pianto (PJ): Both these Island corona gordas had good construction. Smooth brown wrappers and cap, but slightly veiny. The bunch was firm and even. Pre-light draw was just a little tight. Pre-smoke aroma was good.

Rayment Moxley (Rayment): These two cigars were identical in appearance, a nice claro colored wrapper with a fine grained, fine veined leaf that appeared to be a relaxed box press. The finely made triple-cap clipped nicely and gave a very nice taste as it drew perfectly assuaging my concerns over the firm construction. Once lit, the solid ash burned nicely and never attempted to go out. It did tunnel about half way down for an inch. The aroma and smoke were pleasant and plentiful leaving no irritation at any time.

Vince Tinajero (Bad Karma): This cigar was very nice to look at. It had a nice brown wrapper and was rolled to perfection. It sported a nice triple cap indicative of cigar made approximately 90 miles off the coast of Florida. The samples lit easily but unfortunately, both cigars were plugged and had a poor draw.

Smoke Comments

Brian Combs (BrianCombs): Initial flavor was a bit stronger than I expented. The aroma has a hint of flowers to it, with pepper underneath. Medium bodied, with a bit of a nicotine kick. It had early burn problems (runner), but it self corrected.

Frank Columbo (Thechin): This cigar produced a lot of smoke. Nice white/grey smoke. The cigar burned very well and did not have to be relit over the 1.5 hours I took to smoke it. The ash stayed on without drooping and was a very nice white/grey color. The cigar flavor started out very mellow and grew inch by inch. When I first lit this cigar, I wasn't sure what to expect. It started out as a very mellow cigar, but as I continued to smoke it, the flavors built up nicely. I would put the flavors in a class of nuts/coffee, with a bit of spicy backend. This cigar was a bit young in my opinion and could have stood to be aged for 6 months to a year more for the complexity to buildup. I think it would have made this cigar better than it already is. This cigar complimented the 25 year old port that I had with it. The flavor of the cigar melted nicely with the port. Burn was great, no canoeing or hot spots. I was able to smoke this cigar down to about a half inch before letting it go.

John Pianto (PJ): The 1st and 2nd sample both had an uneven burn after lighting, but my torch corrected that and they stayed fairly even from then on. Black with grey ash that was firm, and the coal was cone shape. Draw was ok, but not great. Aroma was mild and pleasant. Mild to medium strength and body. Flavor was not what I would call earthy at all with a subtle underlying sweetness like honey. I like a more earthy or spicy flavor. It took the 1st 1/3 of both cigars before the flavor began to really develop, but was consistent after that. No burn on tongue or harshness on palate. Problem was the 2nd cigar. Half way thru, ash turned all light grey and taste turned bitter. Couldn't finish that one. Only cigar I remember tasting like the 1st sample was a SLR Serie A.

Rayment Moxley (Rayment): These 2 cigars smoked very differently. The first was very straight forward full flavored and medium-full bodied in strength and I was loving it, so much that I nubbed it! After the first, I was absolutely convinced this was a RyJ. However, the second one had me second-guessing. The flavor and strength played peek-a-boo, coming here, going there, reminiscent of ERDM I have smoked. I recently smoked a Cohiba Siglo IV and while the size matched 155 was definitely not as creamy or full bodied.

Vince Tinajero (Bad Karma): Due to the cigars having a poor draw I was unable to get an adequate amount of smoke from either samples. From what little smoke I did receive the flavor was mild to medium but one dimensional.

Summary Comments

Brian Combs (BrianCombs): Nice morning smoke with a cup of coffee. Mild to medium smoke with good character and balance. Nice herbal quality. Too bad I can't get this locally as I'd like to smoke it more often.

Frank Columbo (Thechin): Overall, this cigar was quite enjoyable. I would certainly recommend it, but would like to try it again after 6 months to a year of aging.

John Pianto (PJ): Overall I didn't care for this cigar because it doesn't fit my flavor profile, but I'm sure many would enjoy it. I can't really make any complaints about construction, draw, and burn. Not strong enough for an after dinner cigar IMO. Some aging would help. A good smoke if the taste and flavor you are looking for is not earthy and or spicy.

Rayment Moxley (Rayment): I enjoyed the 2 #155. The first because it just jumped up and grabbed my attention, no holds barred, this one reminded my of a RyJ Beli and other RyJ I have smoked. The second because it started out shy then came on strong and then took on various characteristics. Overall, the spicy flavor in both was one that I really liked, and have enjoyed before in RyJ. I would be happy to have this cigar in my humidor and proud to pass it out to any of my cigar buddies.

Vince Tinajero (Bad Karma): I really wanted to enjoy these cigars, but like many cigars coming out of Cuba today these had some problems that really took away from the enjoyment of smoking these cigars. If they had not been plugged, they might have developed into some good tasting cigars.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 35.2 out of 50

4 Star -- Excellent

by Joseph Giordano

These Rafael Gonzales Corona Extras were from 4/99. They had a nice colorado-claro - colorado colored wrapper with some minor veining and a nice oily sheen. I found the draw to be a bit tight, which seems typical of many in the RG line, but smoke volume was very good.

The Rafael Gonzales Corona Extras, as the other RG, are a spiceless cigar with flavors falling more into the woody/honey spectrum. Overall aroma tends to be sweet and floral like. I found these samples to have an initial almost sweet and sour taste in the finish. The stick then settled into a predominately woody and slightly dry flavor while maintaining the slight honey notes. The aroma is subtle and slightly sweet with almost a floral/honey scent.

On the whole, I agree with the reviewers that this is not a full bodied powerful smoke, but more of an afternoon cigar. I enjoy these, but if you are the type that wants an earthy/spicy powerful smoke then the RG line might not be suited for you. However, if you are looking for a lighter change of pace, I would recommend trying the Rafael Gonzales Corona Extras, which is the boldest of the line.

Overall our reviewers seemed to enjoy this cigar. Although it's not a typical "Cuban" powerhouse, several reviewers enjoyed its milder more woodyhoney like flavors. Some did run into burn and draw problems, which did hurt the overall scoring of this vitola.

Find out more:

This Issues Reviewers
Review Methods