Staff Review: Latitude Zero Signature Doble Corona
Introduction:
With today’s review, we will be taking a look at Latitude Zero Signature Doble Corona. Although a relatively small brand, Latitude Zero Signature is sure to be the next coming of brands produced at the industry renowned NACSA factory.
Feel free to skim the quick hits for an overview or jump into any section below to find the full details of Latitude Zero Signature. And we’re off!
The Quick Hits:
- The follow up release to the Latitude Zero core line
- Main tasting notes of dark chocolate, toast, and caramel
- Recommended for: fans of Oliva Serie ‘V’ Melanio, Ozgener Bosphorus, Rocky Patel Decade
- At only $8.75 for such a large size, you can consider Latitude Zero Signature Doble Corona to be a bargain
The Story:
Let me take you on a quick trip down to Ecuador, a country located at zero degrees latitude (I wonder where this brand got its name?) – this is where we will find the legendary Oliva Tobacco Company’s Ecuadorian tobacco fields. The Oliva Tobacco Company is the premier grower of Ecuadorian Tobacco and has been supplying their world-renowned wrapper leaf to some of the industry’s most acclaimed brands, like Drew Estate and Davidoff, for years.
They also happen to be suppliers of one of the industry’s best kept secrets, the NACSA factory in Nicaragua – maybe NACSA isn’t a secret, but they truly are a hidden gem in the industry and deserve a lot more recognition than they currently get, trust me. NACSA produces some of the most popular boutique brands including blends from Dunbarton, Dapper, and Crowned Heads, and their presence in the market continues to grow with every passing hour.
One of the masterminds of the NACSA factory is industry-veteran and master blender, Raul Disla. Disla was the brains behind the core Latitude Zero release, and with Latitude Zero Signature he was tasked with something a little different – he was asked to create the best and highest quality blend that he could, and double down by adding his signature to the line both metaphorically, and quite literally (his signature is front and center on the top of Latitude Zero Signature’s box).
So, let me just quickly summarize what we have here with Latitude Zero Signature. Some of the highest quality tobacco in the world? Check. One of the industry’s best kept secrets in the NACSA factory? Check. One of the most talented, up-and-coming blenders in cigars? Check.
So far, there really isn’t anything to dislike about Latitude Zero Signature, but let’s get through the rest of the review before I make any crazy proclamations.
The Build:
Latitude Zero Signature’s blend starts off with a slightly veiny, but albeit beautiful, dark brown Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. Underneath, a Nicaraguan binder encases an intricate blend of filler tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Connecticut. In a lot of ways, including its build, Latitude Zero Signature reminds me A LOT of Oliva Serie ‘V’ Melanio, but we will talk about that more in depth later.
The Look:
Understandably so, Latitude Zero Signature has a lot of similarities in its design to its predecessor, the Latitude Zero core line – something that I think will help in the long-term development of the brand.
Starting with the band, Latitude Zero Signature’s focal point is the red, white, and gold compass that really serves as true identity of the brand. Inside of the compass, “Latitude Zero” follows the curvature of the white circle that sits in the middle of the logo. As far as the band goes, the key difference between Signature and the core line (aside from the color), is the extension of the bottom of the band in the Signature line. This extension ends with “Signature” emblazoned in a red strip that serves as an identifier of the line.
Although you probably can’t see it in the photos, Latitude Zero Signature’s band has quite a bit of embossing and foil treatment which adds a lot of contrast to the almost matte colored red and black of the band. Signature also adds a bright red foot ribbon – a small, but tasteful touch. My only gripe here (yes, I know I’m being overly critical) is that the red of the foot ribbon and the red of the band don’t quite match up perfectly. Overall, though, I think the band design is clean and crisp.
Latitude Zero Signature’s box is really slick – a glossy black box with a gold compass and gold accents (brand name, size, and Raul Disla’s signature), which I think certainly does a good job of elevating the packaging. You will also see a map of the world on the top of the box which I suspect is done with spot UV treatment. The vista inside of the lid of the box also shows this same map, but in color, and has blue, red and gold foil accents that are really detailed compared to a lot of the other vistas I have seen in cigar boxes.
Nothing overwhelming about the design as far as I’m concerned, but at the end of the day I think the packaging is sleek and I can tell that a lot of thought was put into it – especially about how this concept would translate to future innovations with the brand.
The Experience:
The first third of Latitude Zero Signature kicked off with a hefty amount of dark chocolate with underlying notes of sweet caramel, and salted peanuts– an unbelievably mouthwatering combination of flavors that could easily have been mistaken for that of one of those Drumstick ice cream cones.
Considering Latitude Zero Signature’s relatively dark wrapper, I was expecting a bit more strength, but to my delight the strength stayed at the medium mark until the final third where it moved closer to medium to full.
Moving into the second third, the dark chocolate notes I was getting in the first third remained consistent whereas the sweet caramel fell into the background, but was still noticeable, nonetheless. The salted peanuts fell off the radar completely, and notes of buttered toast that had been toasted slightly too long came into the mix – this newly added flavor complemented the dark chocolate rather well in my opinion.
The stars of the show in the final third were once again the dark chocolate and slightly burnt buttered toast, but notes of sweet cedar and sunflowers seeds made their presence felt as secondary flavors. The strength profile of Latitude Zero Signature moved from the medium mark to medium to full which I think actually helped the overall experience of the cigar as my time with it promptly came to a close.
I’ll say it like it is - I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that this blend tasted almost identical to Oliva Serie ‘V’ Melanio. I have smoked my fair share of Serie ‘V’ Melanio’s, and I am confident that if you gave me an unbanded one, I would be able identify it without even smoking it. If you gave me an unbanded Latitude Zero Signature a week ago, I probably would’ve told you it was an Oliva Serie ‘V’ Melanio. I am rambling again, but my point is that you can get an almost identical experience out of Latitude Zero Signature as you would with an Oliva Serie ‘V’ Melanio for about half the price.
The final ruling: excellent work out of Latitude Zero Signature!
The Value:
Well, I kind of just gave you my thoughts on the value of Latitude Zero Signature – a sub-$9.00 cigar that can go toe to toe with cigars twice as expensive. There isn’t much more to say about the absolute steal of a buy that Latitude Zero Signature is, but I will leave you with this: I can confidently say that Latitude Zero Signature was one of the ten best new cigars that I smoked in 2022 (and I did smoke a lot of new cigars this year).
Final Thoughts:
To say I was impressed with Latitude Zero Signature would be an egregious understatement – I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I can promise you I wasn’t expecting this blend to be one of the ten best blends I smoked this year. If I were a betting man (which I am not), I would be willing to bet that once Latitude Zero Signature gets into the hands of the masses, it is going to absolutely blow up.
Available in four sizes, Latitude Zero Signature has something for everyone, and with its exceptional flavor profile and solid construction, is a no-brainer suggestion from me. Pick up your favorite size in a box or a 5-pack and be sure to let me know if you were as impressed as I was.
