Cigar Geeks Geek Critique
Santa Ana Robusto
Written by Cigar Geeks Member: The Jackal A.K.A - Jason Sherlock (Jackal)
76
Cigar Geeks Rating
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Welcome to another Cigar Geeks Critique of a cigar provided to us by our friends at Palomino Cigars. Up for review this time is the Santa Ana Robusto. They have generously provided a number of cigars in the Robusto size for our members to review. Special thanks to member ljlemer (aka Larry) for lining this one up.
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This cigar was enjoyed with Napoleon Brandy V.S.O.P.
Pre-Light: 19 Points of 10 Possible
Nice presentation, with a cedar sleeve, unfortunately, there are a lot of glue bubbles on both the cedar and on the band as if they rushed the job applying them.
The pre-light scant is very pleasant with a hint of fruitiness to it.
The cigar clipped easily and cleanly. Pre-light draw was easy but not loose and had a sweet taste with a touch of bitterness.
Lighting and Burn: 10 Points of 15 Possible
It lit easily and evenly.
Burn was uneven. Along the most protruding vein the burn was slow. It did correct itself in the first third. However, in the second third it got out of control to the point that I did need to touch it up with my lighter.
The ash was salt and pepper colored and quite flaky, leaving bits to fall on my shirt and pants.
Smoke was white with a tinge of blue. The smoke was wispy and did not achieve the volume that I would have expected.
Construction: 26 Points of 30 Possible
Construction.
The cigar was fairly heavy and was solid throughout most of its length. However, it was squishy at the head.
The wrapper was a good mocha brown, oily and toothy. It was also bumpy in many places and had some prominent veins. The largest of these veins did impede the burn. The wrapper also did not extend completely to the foot, leaving 1-2 millimeters of binder exposed.
Flavor and Aroma: 21 Points of 45 Possible
The cigar had a medium strength flavor profile.
The initial flavor upon lighting was woody (oak) with a hint of pepper. This quickly transitioned to an earth coffee flavor. There was an ashy taste that quickly coated my palate. Once the initial light up flavors had made their transition, there was little complexity to the flavors. By the end of the first third some leather and a touch of sweetness emerged.
The second third was more dominated by leather. The ashy flavor, however, still remained. There was also a touch of bitterness, as if the cigar was getting too hot; however, it was cool to the touch. The sweetness was was fading throughout the second third until it was almost completely gone by the last third.
By the last third the ash flavor had either gone away or I had gotten used to it. The leather flavor remained and the coffee flavor was back to join it. The the bitterness was back too.
Summary
This cigar wasnt a winner for me. The ashy and bitter tastes really ruined it for me.
I wonder if changing beverage may help. I had brandy with this cigar. The alcohol cleansed my palate and really helped to make the ash flavor stand out. Maybe this cigar would fare better with a more bitter drink, like coffee.
I also think that this particular blend would work better with a Cameroon wrapper. The sweetness of a Cameroon wrapper would blend better with the earthiness of the filler
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(4 Review(s))