Back in late 2020, J.C. Newman announced it was revamping the famed Perl del Mar cigar line. The line is a historic brand that traces its roots to Cuba. As the J.C. Newman website explains:
“In 1905, four Cuban brothers started hand rolling cigars using tobacco grown on their family’s farm in Cuba. They named their company Perfecto Garcia Brothers and called their cigars “Perla del Mar” because of the beautiful Caribbean waters that surround Cuba. As the popularity and demand for their cigars grew, the brothers built a large cigar factory next to J.C. Newman’s El Reloj factory in Ybor City, Florida. Perla del Mar was one of the leading premium cigar brands in the early 1900s. J.C. Newman’s new Perla del Mar cigars honor the brand’s historic legacy.”
As part of the revamping process, the company modified the packaging and added aged Nicaraguan fillers to amp up the original J.C. Newman Perla del Mar two blends (Shade and Maduro) to a fuller strength. The company went with a viso priming which is further up the plant between the seco and ligero primings.
In the press release announcing the changes, Drew Newman, general counsel of J.C. Newman stated:
“Although our Perla del Mar cigars were good, we were not totally satisfied. We wanted to make them better – and that’s exactly what we did. After two years of effort working to perfect the brand, we are thrilled to reintroduce Perla del Mar.”
The Perla Del Mar Corojo
Besides the repacking and tweaks to the Maduro and Shade blends, the company also announced they were adding a new Corojo blend to the line and they decided to use a “Tampa-style” pressing that forms the cigar flat with crisp edges on the bottom and slightly curved on top.
The company describes the Perla del Mar Corojo blend as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Corojo
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Nicaraguan
The corojo line is expressed in 4 “Tampa-style” box pressed vitolas each packaged in 25-count boxes using the revamped branding:
- Toro (6 1/4 x 54) – MSRP $7.10
- Double Toro (6 x 60) – MSRP $7.60
- Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 46) – MSRP $6.45
- Robusto (4 3/4 x 52) – MSRP $6.45
For this review, I sampled 6 of Perla Del Mar Toros that I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The first thing you notice when you take the J.C. Newman Perla Del Mar out of the box is the beautiful construction. From the silky smooth, milk chocolate brown wrapper to the unique Tampa-style box press. The wrapper has a fine oily sheen and the cigar seems to be well packed with no soft spots along the barrel but just enough give to allow it to expand slightly once ignited. A well applied triple cap finishes the presentation.
A single band adorns the cigar that uses a gold, white, and burgundy motif. The top of the band displays the brand name embossed inside a golden ring, the center of which also abbreviates the name with the letter “PDR”. The sides of the band denotes this as product from J.C. Newman established in 1895. The bottom of the band declares it as the Corojo blend and denotes it as “Hand Made”. I like how the band pops on the background of the wrapper.
Running the Perla del Mar across the nose, I picked up a pungent fermented leaf note along the barrel while the foot exuded enticing notes of malt and nut off the foot.
Using my double blade Xikar cutter, I sliced the well applied cap straight across the shoulder and proceed to give it some cold draw puffs that I found to have a fine restriction and offered notes of peppery spice and sweet raisin.
Using my double flame torch, I warmed the foot gently bringing it to an even orange glow as I drew in the first puffs of lightly peppered and cedar smoke. Follow along as I burn the Perla del Mar to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- Right off the first puff I am greeted with notes of light pepper and cedar
- Sweet floral aroma wafts off the foot
- Lip tingling anise notes join the early profile
- Full volume of chewy smoke
- Light grey ash forms on top a mildly jagged thick char line
- Ash fell in nice chunk revealing a flat but centered burn cone
- Sweetness builds on top of the cedar notes
- The aroma shifts to more of a fruity note moving into the second third
- Dry leather notes add to profile
- Nuances of coffee appear deep in the second third
- Pleasant nuttiness grows and take it down to the final
- Slight off burn in the final
- Medium Strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 40 minutes
Final Analysis
Once again, J.C. Newman shows that a fine cigar does not need to need to break your wallet to offer a relaxing and enjoyable experience. In the case of the Perla del Mar Corojo, they have produced a medium body/medium strength cigar that should please the palate of most any cigar enthusiast. I especially enjoyed the notes of anise and sweetness early on and the pleasant nuttiness in the final. Construction wise, it performed decently with just a slight jag in the burn and a mild off burn in the final third. This mildly complex cigar is certainly box worthy and I rate it a solid 93.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild Jag In Burn; (-1) Off Burn in Final; (-1) Flat but Centered Burn Cone
Bonus Points: (+1) Buy a Box; (+1) Consistently pleasant experience across multiple samples
