Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony | Cigar Review

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Gordo
Binder: Ecuadorian, Dominican (Double Binder)
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Size: 5 x 50 “Robusto”
Body: Medium
Price: $7.60 MSRP ($7.20 @ Small Batch Cigar)

Today we take a look at the Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony.
A gift from a good friend, Bruce Cholka. Thank you Bruce.
I made a mistake and attributed the gifter to an anonymous source. I’ve corrected that mistake.
I want to ask for your patience. I’m trying my best to keep track of the care packages I’ve received. But I’ve created an illusion. The only time I have some clarity in my life is when I write. It’s a damn miracle…because the rest of my day is like me wandering the desert like Moses with blinders. I have very serious memory issues. I can’t remember to remember. If that makes any sense. So if I erroneously attribute the gift to the wrong person, always…please contact me and straighten me out.
Thanks.

BACKGROUND:
Regular Production
Debuted at the 2015 IPCPR trade show.
Cornelius & Anthony is under the umbrella of S & M Brands. S & M is owned by the Baily Family (Began business in 1860). They also dabble in cigarettes, e-cigs, and premium cigars.
The first cigar from C & A was the Avant Garde.
Meridian has their cigars produced at the PDR Factory in the DR.

From the C & A web site:
“Originating back five generations to the pioneers of our Cornelius & Anthony family, the commitment to quality and a passion for the land we cultivate continues this day by growing some of the finest tobacco available.

“Our families wealth of tobacco industry knowledge from the past 150 years is meticulously implemented in every tobacco selection and curing process, therefore providing Cornelius & Anthony the capability to offer our consumers a premium hand rolled cigar experience in every brand we produce.

“As masters of the craft, we encourage you to experience and enjoy our families tobacco legacy.”

DESCRIPTION:
Not a bad looking cigar. Stout, like a fire plug, and solid with a nice give when squeezed. It has a quadruple cap. Seams are tight. Few veins.
The wrapper is an oily russet brown color.
There are double cigar bands. Simple but elegant. There is no backstory on the cigar either on the web site or the regular cigar news services.

SIZES AND PRICING:
Corona 5.5 x 42
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 54
Gordo: 6 x 60
Lonsdale 6.75 x 46
Price range from $7.60 to $9 per cigar.

The only online store carrying them is Small Batch Cigar. Although, the C & A web site will soon open their online store at their web site.
The C & A web site leaves out the Lonsdale size and shows a Corona not mentioned by any reviewer’s news source. It also says the Robusto is 5 x 50, not 5 x 52.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell lovely floral notes, orange citrus, spice, chocolate, and cedar.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell strong spice, milk chocolate, floral notes, and orange citrus.
The cold draw presents flavors of milk chocolate, barnyard, spice, cinnamon, cedar, sweetness, citrus, and very earthy notes of tobacco.

FIRST THIRD:
Nice, easy draw.
Then a blast of red pepper. Followed by jelly up and jam tight sweetness, chocolate, malt, creaminess, honeysuckle, orange citrus, exotic spice, cedar, small notes of caramel, and very earthy.
Now this is what I’m talking about.

Yesterday’s review of the Rocky Patel Twentieth Anniversary didn’t begin to taste like this til the halfway point and couldn’t maintain an even keel of flavors.

Strength is medium/full right away. The red pepper is blasting away with its phaser gun and proton torpedoes.
With only an inch burned, we get some really strong complexity. The balance is good and it has a nice long chewy finish.

Construction is great and no touch ups required for the char line.
Some very subtle flavors of vanilla salt water taffy, also some salty pretzel, coffee, roasted nuts, baking spices, raisins, and charred oak.
Here are the malts: Chocolate Malt, Special B Malt, Rye Malt, and Cara Vienna Malt. (See Malt Chart).

What a great cigar! I have to be honest and tell you dear readers that I hadn’t heard of this cigar before I got the 5 pack a few weeks ago.
And the price point hits the 10 ring about what I’ve been ranting about forever. You don’t need to spend double digits on a great cigar! It’s crazy a cigar this good costs this little.

Now I’d really love to try their other blend: Avant Garde.
I am going to do what I do best….write them and beg.
Couldn’t find a single review of this cigar. Shame, shame, shame. The Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony deserves lots of exposure. I am happy that I can add a little PR from my side of the fence.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 23 minutes.
The strength mellows out a bit and becomes medium body.
Sweet Spot 1.0. Flavors are blossoming like a spring rose.

All flavors are intact and in the same order as my previous list.
The complexity is digging deeper now. Transitions are morphing faster than a Borg.
The Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony is an impressive blend.

Small Batch Cigar has them in four sizes. But they are nearly out of stock. Surprisingly, it is the boxes that have the least quantity in stock. Plenty of 5 packs.
If I were you, I’d wiggle over to SBC and snag to your heart’s desire. For under $7, this is a killer deal on a great blend.

And like a light switch, we have Sweet Spot 2.0.
Flavor explosion. Take cover. (What a dumb thing to say).
But I mean it. The creaminess is its strongest point.
There are so many flavors in this little robusto that my head is spinning. And oh yes, no nicotine. Yet.

I wish I knew who sent me these cigars. I would love to hug and kiss the gentleman. Are you a WASP? My WASP friends growing up thought it odd that I would kiss my father, my uncle, or my grandfather. Old Eastern European traditions as well as most of the world. I grew up this way and don’t have any hang ups about this. But my WASP friends gave their fathers a hearty handshake. I remember not being too crazy when I saw my grandpa. He gave the juiciest kisses on the lips. Made me ill. LOL. BTW- On my dad’s side, they were Hungarians. My mother’s side, they were Germans.

Back to the Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony.
I’m at the halfway point and this is a nice, slow, relaxing smoke.
Here they are: Sweetness, chocolate, malt, creaminess, honeysuckle, exotic spice, cedar, caramel, vanilla, salty pretzel, coffee, roasted nuts, baking spices, raisins, and charred oak.
Now this is impressive.

And not a lick of trouble from its construction or need for char line touch ups. For $7.00!
Lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy.

The Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony is everything you want in an inexpensive cigar. And nowadays, $7-$8 is inexpensive.
A reader, anonymously of course, sent me the new San Cristobal Ovation. I checked. $15.00! Ouch. I can’t wait to review to see what a $15 stick tastes like. Greedy bastardos!

Transitions are coming fast and loose. Shot out of a pulse cannon. Warp factor 7. Make it so!
I give the Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony its first minor char line touch up. More for aesthetic reasons than really needing one. I like pretty pictures.

The caramel and creaminess and the malts are just crazy good.
The web site doesn’t provide the blender’s name. Would like to know that so I can yell “Brava!”
Strength is a smooth medium body.
The only criticism I can think of is that the spiciness has dissipated. In the back of the line.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is 45 minutes.
This blend is so good that I’m now re-thinking my daughter’s wedding party cigars. The price is right. And everyone will love it. And for those wusses that can’t handle a full bodied cigar, this is the answer. Now the question is Toro or Gordo. Most infrequent cigar smokers equate a Tony Soprano cigar with being the best tasting.
I’d be hard pressed to find a better deal, and better cigar, for the wedding.

The chocolate and coffee make this a mocha java Starbuck’s drink. There is a dusting of cinnamon now.

The Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony is a stick you don’t want to end. I would love to try the Toro.
I don’t know what else I can say about the Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony. It seems that I’ve said it all.
This is a perfect morning cigar. A perfect blend for newbies. And experienced smokers will love the complexity.
The Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony is a true flavor bomb.

The best part is that it has only 2-3 weeks of humidor time. I can’t imagine how extensive humidor time will improve this blend. No place to go. At this point, all bets are covered.
And not a lick of nicotine!

In the last inch, the red pepper returns in force. And another flavor explosion!

I highly recommend the Meridian “Sopadre” by Cornelius & Anthony.
I’m not affiliated with Small Batch Cigar. But when I find the best place to buy the cigar, I like to inform you of that. That’s all. No kickbacks. No free cigars. Just a public service announcement.
Final smoke time is one hour 5 minutes.

Final thoughts…Another reason I like this cigar so much is due to the near perfect construction. I am sick to death of supposedly premium cigars that burn terribly and have wrapper issues. Has the world gone mad? Or is that the Greed Monsters are whipping the poor rollers beyond their capacity to do good work? Almost every cigar I smoke gets a run in it. Some small. Some large. I spend a lot of time toasting the foot properly and want to shoot someone after I spend all that time just to see the cigar canoe in a blink of an eye. And then it’s a game of puff, torch, puff, torch, puff…etc. Ruining the cigar.
Shame on the manufacturers who can’t make an expensive cigar burn well. And if you use my method of torching a sixteenth of an inch around the outside perimeter of the foot, you can actually see where the cigar does not terminate correctly and where it will canoe. So I Hail Meridian! The good folks there know how important a well made cigar is to us smokers.

RATING: 93