1. Quesada Reserva Privada Barber Pole Corona Gorda
Quesada Cigars
- Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
- Factory: Quesada Cigars
- Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut & Dominican Criollo 98
- Binder: Dominican Criollo (1997)
- Filler: Dominican Republic (San Vicente) & Pennsylvania Ligero
- Length: 5 3/4 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 48
- Vitola: Corona Gorda
- MSRP: $12.95 (Boxes of 12, $155.40)
- Release Date: June 2017
- Number of Cigars Released: n/a
- Original Score: 93
If you would have told me five years ago that a barberpole—cigars with multiple intertwined wrappers—would top our top 25 list, I would have thought you were out of your mind. However, in that time barberpoles have gotten a lot better and this is certainly one of them.
The Quesada Reserva Privada Barber Pole uses wrappers from the regular Reserva Privada, Ecuadorian Connecticut, and the Oscuro version, Dominican criollo 98. Those two wrappers are intertwined over fillers from the San Vicente region of the Dominican Republic and ligero from Pennsylvania. Despite the unique appearance, the most notable tobacco is actually the one directly underneath the wrappers: a Dominican criollo binder from the 1997 harvest, the last crop planted and picked before Manuel Quesada Sr. passed away.
What’s perhaps most remarkable about this particular cigar is the vitola. Quesada released this cigar to national accounts in robusto and toro formats, but the Corona Gorda made exclusively for Fine Ash Cigars of Avondale, Ariz. is the best one, by a wide margin.
This was a limited cigar and made only for one store, but there was some hint that there could be more of them coming. That’s probably happening now and that’s a good thing. — Charlie Minato.
