- Joined
- Jan 25, 2015
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@mel-mbombay was generous enough to send me two cigars to review here on the forum. First up is the Habano Blend Rousto (4.5 X 48). The cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper with an Ecuadorian Criollo binder and a filler of Nicaraguan and Peruvian leaf.
The wrapper is a dark caramel brown color and has a nice sheen to it. I could see no obvious seams. The wrapper has a few light veins but all were very smooth. The cigar has a closed foot. The cigar is covered by about 2.5 inches of band. The artwork is beautiful. It is very reminiscent of an Oriental rug but it has to be removed before lighting. This is no easy task if attempting to keep it intact. There is a smaller, more traditional band underneath.
A sniff at the foot reveals a very earthy, barnyard scent with a bit of wet hay. After a straight cut the pre-light draw was damn decent with flavors of very dark wheat bread. In fact I don't know how many of you have had it but it reminded me very much of the B&M Brown bread in the can. If you don't know what I'm referring to here see this link (http://www.famousfoods.com/bmbrbrp.html).
First 1/3
After toasting the foot and a good even light there is an immediate shot of white pepper. This was most evident on the retro. The cigar produces plenty of creamy smoke. There is a underlying sweet note that has a bit of saltiness associated with it like one of those salted caramels or a PayDay candy bar without the nuts. The pepper faded to the background very quickly but is still there. There is a subtle hint of a spice that took me a while to figure out. This spice was in both the flavor and the aroma. I finally pinpointed it as a bit of cardamon. The initial sweetness continued to build throughout the first third and was nicely complemented by the saltiness. Burn throughout the first third was very good but not razor sharp. Ash is a dingy charcoal gray and held for the entire first third of the cigar. For me this cigar is medium in strength and body during the first third. The smoke is creamy and with the white pepper, caramel sweetness and saltiness there is enough going on here to say the cigar has some nice complexity.
Second 1/3
Not much change here but the flavors do deepen a bit. That cardamon hint is all gone. Second band is almost as difficult to remove as the first one. Burn required a minor touch up during this third but nothing significant. Again the ash held for the entire third.
Final 1/3
Sweetness fades pretty quickly during the last third of the cigar. The white pepper is now becoming more dominant again the the flavor picks up a bit of nuttiness. The cigar finishes with a nice nutty spicy finish before it gets a bit too hot and has to be put down.
I know everyone has their own way to try to objectively evaluate a cigar. I use my own 6 point system allocated as follows:
Appearance 1 point
Construction and Burn 1 point
Taste/Flavor 2 points
Complexity 1 point
Overall enjoyment 1 point.
For this MBombay Robusto Habano Blend I scored the cigar as follows:
Appearance 1 point
Construction/Burn .8 point
Taste/Flavor 1.75 point
Complexity .75 point
Overall enjoyment .9 point
TOTAL 5.2 points or 87%
I enjoyed this cigar and would recommend it to the brothers here. For me it stayed firmly in the Medium range in both flavor and strength. I did not research the price point as the cigars were provided to me for review. I could easily see these becoming part of my regular rotation. Many thanks to Ron at MBombay for the opportunity to review this cigar. Up next for me with be the KeSARA blend.
The wrapper is a dark caramel brown color and has a nice sheen to it. I could see no obvious seams. The wrapper has a few light veins but all were very smooth. The cigar has a closed foot. The cigar is covered by about 2.5 inches of band. The artwork is beautiful. It is very reminiscent of an Oriental rug but it has to be removed before lighting. This is no easy task if attempting to keep it intact. There is a smaller, more traditional band underneath.
A sniff at the foot reveals a very earthy, barnyard scent with a bit of wet hay. After a straight cut the pre-light draw was damn decent with flavors of very dark wheat bread. In fact I don't know how many of you have had it but it reminded me very much of the B&M Brown bread in the can. If you don't know what I'm referring to here see this link (http://www.famousfoods.com/bmbrbrp.html).
First 1/3
After toasting the foot and a good even light there is an immediate shot of white pepper. This was most evident on the retro. The cigar produces plenty of creamy smoke. There is a underlying sweet note that has a bit of saltiness associated with it like one of those salted caramels or a PayDay candy bar without the nuts. The pepper faded to the background very quickly but is still there. There is a subtle hint of a spice that took me a while to figure out. This spice was in both the flavor and the aroma. I finally pinpointed it as a bit of cardamon. The initial sweetness continued to build throughout the first third and was nicely complemented by the saltiness. Burn throughout the first third was very good but not razor sharp. Ash is a dingy charcoal gray and held for the entire first third of the cigar. For me this cigar is medium in strength and body during the first third. The smoke is creamy and with the white pepper, caramel sweetness and saltiness there is enough going on here to say the cigar has some nice complexity.
Second 1/3
Not much change here but the flavors do deepen a bit. That cardamon hint is all gone. Second band is almost as difficult to remove as the first one. Burn required a minor touch up during this third but nothing significant. Again the ash held for the entire third.
Final 1/3
Sweetness fades pretty quickly during the last third of the cigar. The white pepper is now becoming more dominant again the the flavor picks up a bit of nuttiness. The cigar finishes with a nice nutty spicy finish before it gets a bit too hot and has to be put down.
I know everyone has their own way to try to objectively evaluate a cigar. I use my own 6 point system allocated as follows:
Appearance 1 point
Construction and Burn 1 point
Taste/Flavor 2 points
Complexity 1 point
Overall enjoyment 1 point.
For this MBombay Robusto Habano Blend I scored the cigar as follows:
Appearance 1 point
Construction/Burn .8 point
Taste/Flavor 1.75 point
Complexity .75 point
Overall enjoyment .9 point
TOTAL 5.2 points or 87%
I enjoyed this cigar and would recommend it to the brothers here. For me it stayed firmly in the Medium range in both flavor and strength. I did not research the price point as the cigars were provided to me for review. I could easily see these becoming part of my regular rotation. Many thanks to Ron at MBombay for the opportunity to review this cigar. Up next for me with be the KeSARA blend.
