H. Upmann Coronas Minor
📌 Brand: H. Upmann
📌 Line: Coronas Minor Tubos
📌 Size: Petit Corona (4 5/8" × 40 - Coronitas)
📌 Weight: 7.2 g
📌 Age: 50+ years (1970s vintage)
📌 Origin: Cuba
Tasting Notes
Aged Cedar – Dry, antique wood character
Bitter Herbs – Persistent and dominant
Old Leather – Faded but present
Dusty Earth – Vintage, cellar-like undertone
First Impressions
The cigar shows its age clearly: faded wrapper, delicate veins, and a light, fragile feel. Aroma from the tube suggests old cedar, leather, and archival paper. Cold draw is surprisingly intact, offering gentle resistance with no signs of collapse.
Smoking Experience
First Third – Opens dry and bitter immediately. Aged cedar and herbal bitterness dominate, but combustion is steady and controlled.
Second Third – Leather and dusty earth appear briefly, but bitterness remains constant. Construction continues to impress for a cigar of this age.
Final Third – Profile thins further. Bitter herbs and dry wood linger, but the cigar holds together structurally until the end.
Pairings
Alcohol – Chartreuse Jaune - Herbal sweetness, alpine florals, and gentle honeyed depth interact with the cigar’s bitterness rather than fighting it, creating harmony through contrast.
Tea – Aged Liu An Basket Tea - Soft, woody, and low-tannin — chosen to echo the cigar’s age while calming bitterness.
Music Pairing
“Tres Lindas Cubanas” – Compay Segundo
Warm nostalgia reflecting the cigar’s historic character.
Final Thoughts
For a cigar from the 1970s, this H. Upmann Corona Minor Tubos performs admirably in terms of construction and burn. However, time has stripped away sweetness and balance, leaving bitterness as the dominant theme throughout. A fascinating historical smoke, more appreciated for survival than flavor.
Final Score: 7/10
Why not a 10?
Persistent bitterness from start to finish, with limited remaining complexity despite solid construction for its age.
Only cigars that deliver flawless draw, balance, flavour evolution, construction and satisfaction get a 10.