RealFreakinCigarReviews

The Robusto is a 5 x 50 beauty with an Indonesian TBN (whatever the hell that means?) Select Shade grown wrapper that is just a beautiful cigar to look at. It's rolled tight as a drum and, unlit, is a delight to the nose. Then the bad news begins. After a nice, clean cut, I draw on the cigar to get a sense of what I'm about to smoke. Except it doesn't draw very well. In fact, it hardly draws at all. "It's nothing," I think. "This is an H. Upmann. It's a classy cigar. Probably just a little plugged at the end and once it's lit, it'll be just fine."

So, I lit it.

But it wasn't fine.

I mean, it was fine, but...

Here's the deal: This cigar is absolutely delicious; the flavor is thick, rich and creamy, almost sweet. (Sorry, but my unsophisticated cigar palate doesn't differentiate "a bit of persimmon, followed by a hint of tarragon, with overtones of lobster fondue and a Lysol finish."). The problem is that you just can't get to it!

The draw on this stogie is just impossible. You need a vacuum pump to drag that terrific tasting smoke from the hot end down to the lip end. I even used a drawpoker on the damn stick and still barely got enough smoke to taste. And you know it's gotta be great because the aroma is fabulous. Maybe if I trapped the smoke in a baggie and sucked it out?

I wish I could say it was a fluke and that I just got a plugged cigar. But I've smoked four of them now, giving each a month longer in the humi, and the story's the same on all of them.

Criminal.

That such an absolutely gorgeous cigar with phenomenal flavor should be so hard to draw.

it’s just too much work for too little flavor.

If this stogie had a reasonable draw, it would be a superlative smoke.

Criminal.