This cigar review of the Flor de Gonzalez Gold Extra Corona is part of a series of reviews on the Top Ten Made in the USA cigars of 2006 For more information, and for more reviews of premium cigars from around the world, check the Cigar Review archive.

Arnaldo Gonzalez was born in Cuba and grew up in the tobacco fields there. Making cigars is not just a business to him. It is a passion. Four generations of his family have been involved in the growing and manufacturing of tobacco.

He fled Cuba in 1980. In 1983, he opened a small factory in Hialeah, Florida, and began manufacturing a couple of hundred cigars a week there, selling then from a storefront at the factory. The quality of his cigars caused the business to grow, and soon he had fourteen Cuban expatriate rollers working with him, making around a half million cigars a year for distributors and retailers throughout the United States.

When the Cigar Boom came to a screeching halt in 1997, Flor de Gonzalez struggled to survive. He decided to move the majority of his manufacturing to Nicaragua in order to cut costs, and kept his focus on quality. One cigar line, the Flor de Gonzalez Gold, is still made at his factory in Florida and qualifies for inclusion in this list.

I am glad that it does. The Flor de Gonzalez Gold is a superb cigar.

I am especially fond of the Extra Corona in this line, and that is the vitola I have chosen to include in this top ten list. The other vitolas are also good, however, so you might want to sample the different sizes (which range from the 5 inch by 50 ring Wavell up through the 9 inch by 60 ring aptly named “Monster”) and see which you prefer.

The Flor de Gonzalez Gold Extra Corona is a medium-bodied cigar with an excellent earthy flavor. It has herbal and spice overtones, along with a sweet nuttiness. The finish is good, with notes of coffee and cocoa that combine into a pleasant mocha flavor.

The Extra Corona is a six inch by 50 ring beauty with a silky, Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper. Cigar Aficionado, in awarding this cigar an 89 rating in 2005, listed it as having a filler blend of tobacco from the Dominican Republic and Honduras. I think that I detect some Nicaraguan flavor in it, but I could be wrong. I’m not going to be able to give you a definite answer on that though, since the exact blend of the cigar — Arnaldo’s original and first blend, by the way — is a closely-guarded secret.

Wherever their exact provenance, the tobaccos for these cigars are aged and specially cured for five years through various fermentations before being rolled. After rolling, they are given special aging in cedar to marry the flavors and mature them. The attention to detail and care is evident when you light one up. They are quite good.

Arnaldo Gonzalez personally inspects every cigar in this line before it is sent out. It is a point of pride that he unconditionally guarantees his cigars to satisfy the most stringent cigar connoisseur. Arnaldo takes his work — and his passion for cigars — very seriously.

For all of their quality, and their high ratings, Flor de Gonzalez Gold cigars are not pricey. A box of 25 of the Extra Coronas, which has a suggested retail of US $125.00, will cost you $76.95 at JR Cigars. That is a savings of about 38%, bringing the price to about $3.08 per cigar. I haven’t found them at any of the other major online retailers. Check your local tobacconist as well.

It is not often that you can find a cigar of this quality that is also this affordable. Give them a try. You will find them a pleasant addition to your humidor.