Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona

When it came to picking out a cigar for this redux review, I was hoping to find a fairly short one, as I’ve just gotten back from the 2023 Total Product Expo (TPE) and am about to start spring training. Combine that with my general desire to redux a cigar after a relatively round amount of time since the original review, i.e. a year or two after, and I wasn’t optimistic about my prospects.

But then I came across the Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona, which I reviewed a little under three years ago, and which had a connection to where I had just been, the TPE trade show.

In January 2020, Cavalier Genève attended the TPE trade show—when TPE stood for Tobacco Plus Expo—and released this cigar, which had been an event-only offering but was becoming part of the company’s regular production portfolio, available only to retailers in the United States.

It is a 5 x 44 vitola, with a blend that uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a binder and filler that come from Nicaragua, though without specifics about region or varietal disclosed. The cigar’s origins trace back to the original Cavalier Genéve Black Series, which debuted at the 2016 IPCPR Convention and Trade Show. The line debuted alongside the company’s White Series, which was new to the U.S. market but had previously been sold internationally. At the time, the Black Series was an event-only release, offered in three vitolas, Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 54) and Double Corona (7 1/2 x 52).  It would become a regular retail offering in the coming months, beginning shipping on Valentine’s Day of 2017.

After about two years, Cavalier Genève decided to rebrand the Black Series as the USA Exclusive Series, which formally recognized that the line had always been produced just for the U.S. market but had never been explicitly designated as such.

“It is now important for Cavalier in its development to set it apart from the other releases in the USA and make it more convenient for retailers and consumers to know what the line stands for,” said Sebastien Decoppet, the company’s founder, when the change was announced.

With the rebrand, that left just the Black Series II using that name, a line that dates back to the summer of 2017. While the USA Exclusive and Black Series II blends are the similar, the blends are different. Additionally, the Black Series II is box-pressed, while the USA Exclusive series vitolas are round.

Here’s what I said about the Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona when I reviewed it in April 2020:

The Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona is one of those cigars that comes out swinging and then has to find its pacing the rest of the way, which in this case means some ups and downs in flavor intensity and a final third that wants to get back to that earlier performance but can’t quite do it. It’s more of a progression that one might expect from a smaller cigar, but for the most part it is enjoyable, even with a few bumps along the way, including a final third that can be a bit too robust for my liking. This cigar does its best to make the most of its vitola and fairly quick smoking time, resulting in an enjoyable experience at the end.

• Cigar Reviewed: Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: San Judas Tadeo
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 44
• Vitola: Corona
• MSRP: $6.90 (Box of 50, $345)
• Release Date: March 12, 2020
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

I’m a bit bummed to see that the gold leaf diamond on the body of the cigar has rubbed off a bit, as what is arguably the most interesting visual part of the cigar isn’t as attractive as I remember it. Besides that though, the cigar looks good. I’m not a huge fan of the foot band, between both the shiny gold background and the somewhat stock font selected, but I know it’s coming off shortly. The dark brown wrapper doesn’t seem to have much oiliness left, as it was not kept in cellophane, making it easier for what oil the leaf did have to depart. The leaf has some small veins, visible more because their color is slightly lighter than the rest of the leaf as opposed to for their size. The cigar is rolled to a firm density, and looks to be rolled well from a visual assessment, including the cinnamon bun cap, with its tight coil of tobacco. The foot band is a bit harder to remove than I would have anticipated, as it does not slide off and it takes me a few tries to pry up a corner in order to peel it off. There isn’t much in the way of aroma off the foot, other than a very light and generic tobacco smell. The draw is a touch open, leading air to move through the cylinder without much resistance. Like the aroma, the flavor of the cold draw is mild though a bit more wood-leaning with just a bit of light tobacco mixed in.

While the pre-light experience was mild, the Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona starts off with a somewhat surprisingly full flavor, marked by a mix of flavors that sometimes conflict with each other yet other times are rather cohesive. There’s some rich, dry earth, thick cookie dough, black pepper, a touch of woodiness, and an occasional finish of plain potato chips. Retrohales rearrange the sensations a bit, moving the black pepper to the front of the experience, followed by the other sensations, and with the cookie dough and potato chips now making up more of the finish. On the whole, it’s about 85 percent familiar flavors and aromas, while the remaining 15 percent isn’t immediately identifiable, and leads me to wonder how much—if at all—the age of the cigar is having an effect. There is a puff just shy of the one-inch mark that feels a bit open, but it manages to deliver a mouthful of slightly creamy smoke that is quite enjoyable as all the flavors seems to have gotten in order and hit the palate the way they were intended to. The first clump of ash drops off not long after, and with it seems to go a good bit of the creaminess that was tying things together. That seems to signal a shift towards more of the woodiness in the profile, but there’s also some mixed nuts, and in particular a touch of oil from those nuts. Retrohales are still led by black pepper, and now a more robust version of that sensation as it seems to have picked up a bit of heat and char, which translates into a more lasting tingle in my nostrils. Almost as if on cue, creaminess returns to the profile to soothe my senses from this more robust retrohale. Flavor has largely been in medium to medium-plus territory, while the body has been more consistently medium and strength is in the mid range. Construction has been very good thus far; while I might want a bit more resistance from the draw, it’s nothing to complain about, while the burn line and smoke production have both been very good.

The coming-and-going of the creaminess in the profile of the Cavalier Genève USA Exclusive Petit Corona continues as the second half of the cigar gets underway. It departs for a while, replaced by a drier profile marked by a variety of dry woods and some nuts, particularly dry almonds, and less of the oiliness I found earlier. The finish continues to length its stay on the taste buds, and now is beginning to explore the top of my palate and throat. Retrohales have shifted as well, offering less pepper in terms of quantity and intensity, and it has also shed the more robust black pepper in favor of a lighter white pepper. The pendulum swings again as the final third gets underway, as creaminess returns and gets into a battle for the lead with an increasingly vibrant flavor of dry firewood and mixed pepper. It has been an interesting series of transitions for the palate, though there is a part of me that wishes the cigar could settle in on a spot where all the components were more precisely measured and everything was harmonizing together as opposed to jumping around to what feels like different solos from a jazz quartet. The flavor in this particular cigar ends on a fairly robust, earthy and peppery note, returning with a bit of heat and char that really get my taste buds and nostrils lit up and tingling. Given the path the cigar has taken, I don’t know if this is intentional or consistent, but I do know that I would have preferred more of the creaminess to end with a bit softer landing, but the journey has been enjoyable nonetheless. Construction continues to be fantastic and essentially flaw-free. My only note is that the ash seems to get a bit more fragile, something I notice when a few clumps break off randomly and land on my desk. After about an hour and 30 minutes of smoking time, flavor finishes medium-full, body is medium-plus, and strength is just shy of medium.