This was a gratis stick (“gratis” is Latin for “free” by the way…) courtesy of David Blanco himself – Vice President of Los Blancos Cigar Company – back in Jan. ’09 as a replacement cigar for a rare dud (re: no draw) given me by a friend. A polite, well-worded e-mail to the company was followed by a prompt reply back from Mr. Blanco, then all I had to do was provide him the name of my local tobacconist and go in and pick out a Los Blancos Cigar of my choosing. David took care of the rest. You gotta love that kind of customer service! Not being greedy, I chose the Los Blancos Sumatra Robusto; a double-banded sparkplug of a cigar that was a welcome reprieve from the very mild cigars I have been smoking lately. I let this Robusto nap in my humidor for almost a year-and-a-half. Last night the hot weather broke here in the metro Detroit area, and a cool breeze was blowing in from the south. Seemed like a perfect night for a solo contemplative patio smoke. With my trusty dog “Stogie” at my feet, I settled in with a cold beer.
Pre-light assessment displayed a good-looking medium-brown cigar with a slightly sandy wrapper. The red-and-gold regal looking bands (one at the head and one at the foot) have some type of shielded blue crest on them. Fancy. The company website boasts: “These cigars are masterfully blended with tobacco from the Blanco’s family’s fields in the Jalapa (Nicaragua) and Jamastran (Honduras) Valleys. These complex elements are then united using a Sumatran wrapper imported from Indonesia and combined into perfectly balanced cigars.” Sounds good to me. I made the guillotine cut and took a pre-light draw. The cold draw flavor was slightly peppery with a woody fragrance. I had a good feeling about this smoke. I lit the fuse…
Ah sweet nectar. Once again I suckle at your teat ™. Launching pad puffs greeted me with a wonderfully rich bouquet of cedar aroma. Also, cocoa and a slight nuttiness made their presence known. Into the sweet spot the cigar settled comfortably into a solid medium-bodied smoke. Creamy leather bottom notes poked out from the velvety smoothness. Into the finish, as I exhaled though the nose a subtle coffee flavor was detected. The draw was excellent and the cigar burned like a champ, holding a decent size ash throughout the smoke. I smoked it to the nub, as I usually do with a good cigar. To the south, strobe-like flashes of lighting hinted at a storm brewing somewhere off in the distance. I enjoyed the last few puffs of my cigar, and all was well with the world.
To sum up: Wonderfully rich and complex for a medium-bodied cigar. Well constructed and with a classy band, this cigar would really stand out in any humidor. Seems fairly priced in the $6.00 range for a single. I will certainly try the other cigars in the Los Blancos line-up; Criollo, Connecticut, Maduro… If you like your medium-bodied cigars to provide a complex variety of flavors you will want to give this a try.
Grade: B+
Good day sirs!
Pre-light assessment displayed a good-looking medium-brown cigar with a slightly sandy wrapper. The red-and-gold regal looking bands (one at the head and one at the foot) have some type of shielded blue crest on them. Fancy. The company website boasts: “These cigars are masterfully blended with tobacco from the Blanco’s family’s fields in the Jalapa (Nicaragua) and Jamastran (Honduras) Valleys. These complex elements are then united using a Sumatran wrapper imported from Indonesia and combined into perfectly balanced cigars.” Sounds good to me. I made the guillotine cut and took a pre-light draw. The cold draw flavor was slightly peppery with a woody fragrance. I had a good feeling about this smoke. I lit the fuse…
Ah sweet nectar. Once again I suckle at your teat ™. Launching pad puffs greeted me with a wonderfully rich bouquet of cedar aroma. Also, cocoa and a slight nuttiness made their presence known. Into the sweet spot the cigar settled comfortably into a solid medium-bodied smoke. Creamy leather bottom notes poked out from the velvety smoothness. Into the finish, as I exhaled though the nose a subtle coffee flavor was detected. The draw was excellent and the cigar burned like a champ, holding a decent size ash throughout the smoke. I smoked it to the nub, as I usually do with a good cigar. To the south, strobe-like flashes of lighting hinted at a storm brewing somewhere off in the distance. I enjoyed the last few puffs of my cigar, and all was well with the world.
To sum up: Wonderfully rich and complex for a medium-bodied cigar. Well constructed and with a classy band, this cigar would really stand out in any humidor. Seems fairly priced in the $6.00 range for a single. I will certainly try the other cigars in the Los Blancos line-up; Criollo, Connecticut, Maduro… If you like your medium-bodied cigars to provide a complex variety of flavors you will want to give this a try.
Grade: B+
Good day sirs!
Happy Birthday Cigar Scholar!
ReplyDeleteAre you doing anything special ? A video Blog maybe? A review of a gentlemens club? What ever you do , I hope you have a good one ! And remember- 60 is the new 40!