La Corona Century Tasting at The Chedi Andermatt %

La Corona and the century of tasting: I tasted a 136-year-old Cuban cigar at The Chedi Andermatt. Can you still taste anything?

The walk-in humidor

Please come into the humidor of The Chedi Andermatt and enjoy the 24-second clip:

La Corona The Chedi Andermatt — I have never held anything so rare in my hands.

The highlight of my cigar career: La Corona Tasting

For me, this is the current highlight of my cigar career. To be honest, tasting such an old Cuban La Corona cigar was a bit of a challenge. I didn't notice it on the outside, but inside I was trembling. "What if I only experience hot air when smoking? What if I destroy the cigar when I cut it?" Nonsensical thoughts, I know. But, I'm being honest.

It was sometime in March 2021 and I was sitting in The Cigar Library at The Chedi Andermatt. My conversation partners were Marie Gerber and Tim-Martin Weber. We were discussing the feature and film productions for 2021. "Do you have a specific wish, Ms. Gerber?" asked Mr. Weber. Marie Gerber looked at him for a few seconds and then said: "I would like to taste the 136-year-old La Corona for one of the contributions with Vasilij."

2 seconds of silence. Twenty-one, twenty-two. In those two seconds, the world stood still and everyone listened.

"We'll do that," we heard Mr. Weber say. "WHAT?!", or something like that, I blurted out. I mean, we're not talking about a five-year-old 80-euro cigar here, but about a 490-franc cigar that was around 136 years old. Mr. Weber provided two cigars for a report.

Well, making available could also mean: Look, touch, don't light. But they were set alight.

La Corona Tasting in the Furka Suite

The Furka Suite was made available especially for the tasting. With 330 square meters and three spacious bedrooms, the Furka Suite offers pure luxury and tranquillity. One of the bedrooms is located on the second floor, directly beneath a rounded wood-panelled ceiling: the embodiment of a cocoon, with a view of the surrounding mountains. The Furka Suite has a sophisticated living and dining area with an elegant fireplace as an eye-catcher as well as its own kitchen, combining the comfort of a luxury hotel in the mountains with the privacy of your own chalet.

The Furka Suite also boasts its own wonderful private spa. Well, Marie Gerber and I didn't make use of these amenities. After all, we were here to work 🙂

We chose water as our drink to accompany the cigar. We didn't know whether the cigar would still be able to tickle our senses. We certainly didn't want to destroy the taste of this rarity with an aromatic drink.

The La Corona cigars no longer smelled much. A slightly musty smell (barely perceptible) emanated from the paper. This is normal, because over the many decades the paper naturally suffered somewhat in the constantly humid environment.

The cigars felt very good. Cutting. Respectful. Cold draw: Something "fresh", citrusy. Just a hint of a nuance, of course! Lighting. Carefully. Marie Gerber took precedence and watched to be on the safe side. The lighting went perfectly.

The first move. The second move. The third puff. I couldn't believe it: black pepper and coffee beans? After such a long time? I tried not to let my astonishment show. Because I didn't want to influence Marie. She lit the cigar. The first puff. The second puff. The third puff.

La Corona: Available exclusively at The Chedi Andermatt (while stocks last). Unit price approx. CHF 490.00.

She looked at me with a slight smile on her lips: "So?" she asked. I replied, "Black pepper and coffee beans, or have I gone mad?" She laughed. "That's right! I experienced exactly the same thing in the first few puffs."

"Light wood too," - "aha, rather very dark wood for me," - "Bark!" - "No, mine is mossy, peaty." You can imagine the scene like this: We were sitting in the leather armchairs, small flames were blazing elegantly in the fireplace and Marie and I were overwhelmed. The sensory impressions described here were always just a touch fuller. Of course, not as full-bodied as a young cigar or a well-matured cigar.

Unbelievable, this La Corona.

I think our photographer, Christian Schmid (link below in the resources on the topic), had beads of sweat running down his cheeks from time to time. Because although he smelled the cigar smoke, he didn't taste any. We later shocked Mr. Weber by telling him that we had also given a cigar to Christian and that he had stupidly dropped the box in shock and stepped on it. "You guys are a gang," said Mr. Weber, knowing of course that we were joking.

Conclusion La Corona Century Tasting

The ash was super stable and light gray. The La Corona glowed perfectly evenly and for a long time. In the end, it was a very relaxed smoke, because as I mentioned at the beginning, I was a little nervous at the start. Marie Gerber and I planned to talk about the history and origin of the cigars during the smoke.

But because the cigar surprised and overwhelmed our senses so much, we didn't say a single word about it. I will make up for this in a separate article.

Thank you very much for this opportunity, dear Marie Gerber and Tim-Martin Weber. You have created something unique with your cigar business.

Just have a spontaneous look

You don't have to be a guest at The Chedi Andermatt to enjoy this. You can drop in spontaneously and sit down in The Cigar Library. Or in the spacious outdoor area. The cigar service is first-class and second to none. The cigar prices are the same as at a specialist retailer without the typical hotel surcharge. You can also find Cuban limitadas here. Depending on the brand and availability, they cost a little more, or even "normal". Except for the rarities, which have a different price range.

To conclude, I will say one more time: Make you horny!

The cigar freaks from Andermatt

Tim-Martin Weber (Executive Assistant Manager) says: "We are cigar freaks!" Back then, he knew how cigars could become an incredible USP (Unique Selling Proposition) at The Chedi Andermatt. "We do something here that no other hotel does! Either we do it right, or we don't do it at all. We have opted for the former."

When Tim-Martin Weber took over as EAM, the cigars at The Chedi Andermatt were in a desolate state. Nobody cared. Condensation was running down the walls of the walk-in humidor. "I almost cried when I saw it," he said. "I came up with a crazy concept and got the GO from the management."

Such a change does not happen overnight. It takes months and years to train this philosophy of enjoyment and to inspire the staff. It needed a fresh start. The humidor was completely overhauled and some of the cigars were disposed of.

"Do you fancy cigars and would you like to take over the cigar service with a team?" Tim-Martin Weber asked Marie Gerber in January 2018. She immediately said "YES!" and he replied: "Go for it!"

And the crazy dream became reality. With a lot of attention to detail, a lot of passion, a lot of daring, many beads of sweat on the forehead and also on other parts of the body - and above all with a lot of enthusiasm and passion for cigars - the once spiritual state materialized into physical reality. As the saying goes: "If there is nothing on the inside, there is nothing on the outside. If everything is on the inside, everything is on the outside."

This is exactly how the cigar business is celebrated at The Chedi Andermatt. Should I perhaps mention that ultra-rare cigars are purchased for tens of thousands - and thousands - of euros, Swiss francs and pounds? Or that they organized a tasting for me of a 136-year-old La Corona cigar, Havana, Cuba? Or that they discovered a Cuban cigar brand and bought a box that was produced around the Spanish colonial period in Cuba and was called "La Confederacion Suiza"? I shouldn't mention something like that, should I? For us normal connoisseurs, that might make our heads twitch 😉

But: to create an insane USP, you have to be a bit insane. "Mach geil", this expression will always be with me from now on.