This is a sort of ugly looking and a very square, box pressed cigar. I bought a box of 16 from Thompson for $39.99 back in the beginning of August and since the brand isn't discount protected i got 20% off of that, so it was a pretty cheap cigar.
Thompson sells the box of Robustos for $49.99 but you can get it for 10 dollars less if you wait for it to be back in stock and use the $39.99 link.
Here's the link for the $49.95 for those who like to pay the full freight
. This link is useful to check when they have it back in stock:
https://www.thompsoncigar.com/product/Trinidad-Paradox-Robusto-Box-Pressed-Criollo-Robusto/87800.uts
Here's the link for $39.95 for those who'd rather not:
https://www.thompsoncigar.com/product/TRINIDAD-PARADOX-ROBUSTO-CRIOLLO/93698.uts
As you can tell there is a hole right in the wrapper at the beginning but interestingly enough it doesn't cause any problems. The Paradox is a lightly packed cigar and i could literally squish this cigar almost a 1/4 of the way. The wrapper is a little toothy (kind of like a fine sandpaper), thick and can stand up to quite a bit of manhandling.
I've had this sitting at the bottom of my Footlocker Dungeon at 72% rh and 67 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 months. I then placed it in my xikar 5 cigar carrying case with a 69 rh Boveda pack for 3 days to lower the humidity. This is the 3rd cigar that i've smoked from the box and they all share the same flavor profile and construction issues.
The Trinidad Paradox starts off with a really nice flavor. Its woody, toasty, with a hint of spice and caramel. The body is a nice medium but the strength is barely above mild-medium. It has a very clean finish and the flavors are complex in a subtle way. The draw is effortless bordering on excessively loose.
After about 10 minutes the flavors become much heavier with a dark woody toast, with hints of spice, caramel, and a very subdued nuttiness. The ash hold on extremely well but the burn line is shitty and its somewhat flaky.
Its very unfortunate that the cigar is so under packed because the starting flavor really is quite nice. After about 30 minutes the cigar starts to burn hot so i have to slow down. The flavor starts to decline badly due to the draw being so loose. I literally have to constantly correct the burn otherwise you get a wavy burn that is extremely lopsided (it will canoe easily). The cigar becomes quite boring but not terrible, so i keep smoking it down until it becomes too hot to continue.
The burn time is about 1 hour and while i really enjoyed the first third, the rest of the time it was just a mediocre smoke. The strength is a low medium while the body is a nice medium that at times becomes medium full. Too much time is needed touching up the burn and the flavors suffer badly due to the loose draw causing the cigar to burn excessively hot.
Even with the poor construction (underpacked and with a loose draw) the cigar is still decent enough for beginners but not worthwhile for more experienced cigar smokers. I'm going to smoke the rest of the box but i won't be buying this cigar again. It started off with great potential but the construction and burn issues are a deal breaker.
Here's the burn progression (please note, that i was constantly correcting the burn):
Thompson sells the box of Robustos for $49.99 but you can get it for 10 dollars less if you wait for it to be back in stock and use the $39.99 link.
Here's the link for the $49.95 for those who like to pay the full freight
. This link is useful to check when they have it back in stock:https://www.thompsoncigar.com/product/Trinidad-Paradox-Robusto-Box-Pressed-Criollo-Robusto/87800.uts
Here's the link for $39.95 for those who'd rather not:
https://www.thompsoncigar.com/product/TRINIDAD-PARADOX-ROBUSTO-CRIOLLO/93698.uts
As you can tell there is a hole right in the wrapper at the beginning but interestingly enough it doesn't cause any problems. The Paradox is a lightly packed cigar and i could literally squish this cigar almost a 1/4 of the way. The wrapper is a little toothy (kind of like a fine sandpaper), thick and can stand up to quite a bit of manhandling.
I've had this sitting at the bottom of my Footlocker Dungeon at 72% rh and 67 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 months. I then placed it in my xikar 5 cigar carrying case with a 69 rh Boveda pack for 3 days to lower the humidity. This is the 3rd cigar that i've smoked from the box and they all share the same flavor profile and construction issues.
The Trinidad Paradox starts off with a really nice flavor. Its woody, toasty, with a hint of spice and caramel. The body is a nice medium but the strength is barely above mild-medium. It has a very clean finish and the flavors are complex in a subtle way. The draw is effortless bordering on excessively loose.
After about 10 minutes the flavors become much heavier with a dark woody toast, with hints of spice, caramel, and a very subdued nuttiness. The ash hold on extremely well but the burn line is shitty and its somewhat flaky.
Its very unfortunate that the cigar is so under packed because the starting flavor really is quite nice. After about 30 minutes the cigar starts to burn hot so i have to slow down. The flavor starts to decline badly due to the draw being so loose. I literally have to constantly correct the burn otherwise you get a wavy burn that is extremely lopsided (it will canoe easily). The cigar becomes quite boring but not terrible, so i keep smoking it down until it becomes too hot to continue.
The burn time is about 1 hour and while i really enjoyed the first third, the rest of the time it was just a mediocre smoke. The strength is a low medium while the body is a nice medium that at times becomes medium full. Too much time is needed touching up the burn and the flavors suffer badly due to the loose draw causing the cigar to burn excessively hot.
Even with the poor construction (underpacked and with a loose draw) the cigar is still decent enough for beginners but not worthwhile for more experienced cigar smokers. I'm going to smoke the rest of the box but i won't be buying this cigar again. It started off with great potential but the construction and burn issues are a deal breaker.
Here's the burn progression (please note, that i was constantly correcting the burn):