Alec & Bradley Kintsugi Corona Gorda

Alec Bradley Cigar Co.

• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fábrica de Tabacos Raíces Cubanas S. de R.L.
• Wrapper: Honduras (Habano)
• Binder: Honduras & Nicaragua
• Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 5/8 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 46
• Vitola: Corona Gorda
• MSRP: $7.25 (Box of 24, $174)
• Release Date: December 2020
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Original Score: 91

Alec Bradley Cigar Co. may be one of the most well-known brands in the cigar industry, but a lesser-known fact is that the company is that there’s no person named Alec Bradley, rather, there’s an Alec Rubin and a Bradley Rubin, sons of the company’s founder Alan Rubin. Both sons work for the company: the former in marketing, promotions and sales support, while the latter assists with marketing and social media as well as sales support and promotions.

In 2018, the two sons decided to start a new brand under the Alec Bradley umbrella carrying the appropriate name of Alec & Bradley. The new company’s first release was Blind Faith, followed a year later by Gatekeeper, which was made with the assistance of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr.

The brand’s third creation was announced in 2020 carrying the name Kintsugi (pronounced kin-tsu-gee) after the Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery by purposely highlighting the cracks in gold before using lacquer to bind the pieces together again. Although the brand was originally slated for just three sizes, the release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a corona gorda vitola was added to the line before the cigars began shipping to retailers in early July 2021.

With a blend that includes a Honduran habano wrapper from the Trojes region covering both Nicaraguan and Honduran tobacco in both the dual binder and the fillers, the Kintsugi features a profile full of flavors that are both rich and nuanced, with excellent construction and an ever-present sweetness on the retrohale. It takes a special cigar to break the Top 10, but the Alec & Bradley Kintsugi Corona Gorda delivers what it takes and more. — Brooks Whittington.