Robusto, 5” x 50 ring gauge / $4.50, approxA couple weeks ago Alec Bradley had a contest on their Facebook page and I was one of the lucky ones to be able to try out this new cigar. I'd like to thank them for giving me the opportunity to give this cigar a try. The cigar is an extension to their previous American line. This cigar is comprised of fillers from Estelli and Condega, with a Nicaraguan binder, with a wrapper they call Honduran Connecticut sungrown. It comes in 6 sizes from a corona to a toro gordo. This was the first one of these I smoked.
The wrapper on this cigar was very red in color. I think I've only seen one or two cigars that had a deeper red in color. There was some darker mottling to it too. It also had a good amount of oils to it, but very little tooth. The cigar was slightly lumpy in appearance, but that might have been due to shipping. The band is very eye catching and is very colorful and tastefully done. Giving the cigar squeeze I got a slight amount of give without any soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I get the light aroma of cedar with barnyard coming from the foot. After I clipped it and took a cold draw on it I got notes of chocolate and cinnamon and a good draw.
Lighting it up brought a blast of spice on the tongue and retrohale. After taking a few puffs the flavors of molasses, cinnamon, cedar and chocolate started coming through. The draw was pretty good, but it felt like I needed to keep puffing on it or it would go out. The burn ran a bit and needed some correction by a lighter towards the end of the first third. I would classify this cigar in the medium-full range to start. The spice did tone down a bit as I neared the end of the first third.
Moving into the second third, the draw started to open up a bit, but it still felt like I needed to keep drawing on it to keep it lit. The flavors still had a good amount of maple like sweetness to them. I could also get some coffee, earth, wood, cinnamon and cola flavors as well. The strength didn't increase but stayed steady.
As I moved into the final third the draw opened up pretty well and I didn't feel as I needed to keep trying to keep it lit. The burn was still wavy but hadn't needed additional correction. The flavors changed slightly to sweet leather, earth, coffee and cinnamon. As you can see the sweetness was a definite flavor throughout the cigar. I did get a slight nicotine hit as I entered this final third.
Overall I really enjoyed this cigar. When I smoked the cigar I didn't know the price-point, but now that I do I will definitely be picking more of these up. For the budget minded smoker, who likes a little strength I would recommended giving this a try.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
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