OK, here's the second one. I was suprised by the reviews this got from the guys, I thought it would score better than it did.
What is it? What do/did I think of them?
Avo Heritage Robusto
4 7/8 x 50 Rothschild
1) Aesthetics: A slightly oily milk chocolate wrapper sealed this stick. The sticks vary from prominent veins to slight veins. These are all consistent in shape. You know how the head can vary slightly? These didn’t! It is a good looking cigar.
Score for aesthetics: 4.7
2) Pre-light Construction: A firm cigar with nice weight. After cutting, it draws easily. It feels very good in the hand.
Score for Pre-light construction: 4.8
3) Post-light Construction/How it smoked: They take to match quickly and burn very evenly. I get a good 90 minutes out of one of these which is rather amazing for a stick this size. The ash wasn’t flaky, but it also wasn’t firm as on one of these, it landed in my lap.
Score for post-light construction: 4.5
4a) Flavor and strength: I have always liked AVOs for a milder smoke, but this is probably my new favorite AVO, for this steps up the flavor department a bit. It still isn’t what I’d call a powerhouse, but it has some amazing flavors that can stand alone. What I get out of this is some leathery, creamy, spicy, nuttiness – with occasional hints of cocoa. I like the fact that this is not one dimensional.
Score for flavor and strength: 4.8
5) Aftertaste/Finish: In the finish, the cocoa becomes more chocolaty and slight spice, but they don’t last long.
Score for aftertaste: 4.6
6) Aroma: I kept getting the sense of fresh baked bread in the aroma, but not a white bread, more of a heavy whole wheat bread. Also some cream and nuttiness showed up here.
Score for aroma: 4.8
7) General Comments: If you didn’t know, I keep some AVO Heritage handy, but my favorite size is the Short Corona. Flavors are very much the same, but a shorter smoke. I like the flavors, but the room note is wonderful.
Overall score for the cigar. 4.8
8) Recommendation: Of course I recommend these.
[Reply]
Originally Posted by Jason:
that's great! I haven't smoked an AVO in years but I can look back on my reviews and pick out some things that I recall as distinct AVO flavors to my memory, tannic, olives and the musty Bucanero memory. I'd say construction has gone downhill and a few off flavors have crept in since their heyday if these were representative
How long had you let yours sit before smoking? I did not find any of the problems that you found with the ones I have smoked. By the time you got yours, they'd put on a lot of miles and dealt with some serious climatic changes in their travels. A good bottle of wine would also have suffered greatly under such conditions.
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