Cigar Extra: Zino Z-Class 550R

Robusto, 5" x 50 ring gauge /Approx. $9

I was looking through my humidor this week trying to decide on what to review and I remembered that I still hadn't reviewed the latest Zino. I knew Dave had already reviewed it, you can read Dave's complete review of this cigar here, so I decided to give you all my take on the cigar. I smoked a different size than Dave did. I was able to smoke 3 of these for this review.

Taking this cigar out of the wrapper you notice the dark chestnut colored wrapper with a slight amount of darker mottling. It seems to me to be darker than I'm used to seeing on Zinos. The wrapper had some oils to it with a few medium, but mostly smaller veins. To me the band stands out nicely and has a classy look with the silver on black coloring. When squeezed the cigar is fairly firm with no soft spots. Putting my nose to it I get notes of barnyard from the wrapper with raisins and leather from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw on it I get the taste of maple candy with a good draw.

As soon as I lit the cigar up I get a lot of spice on the tongue with a wasabi spice on the retrohale. After taking a few puffs I get the tastes of chocolate and leather with a slight creaminess on the finish. The draw started off great and it produced a large volume of smoke. About a half an inch in the spice toned down a bit with some meaty flavors starting to come through as well. The ash held on for about three quarters of an inch before needing to be tapped off. The burn was slightly wavy but at this point didn't require any touch-ups.


The second third didn't see much change in the flavor or the spice, although towards the end of the second third I got a coppery taste. The draw continued to be great.

The final third saw this cigar finish off strong. The burn evened itself out and the draw continued to be perfect. The spice came back, although not as strong as the first third. The flavors were mainly of earth, leather, and bitter chocolate with a slight creaminess on the finish. The coppery taste went away by the time I started the final third.

Overall this was a great cigar! I did smoke at least one of each of the other sizes before I smoke this one for review, and can easily say the 550R is my favorite size in this blend. I would recommend it to anyone, although I'd caution those not used to full bodied & flavors cigars as this packs some power.


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