Many years ago, as a broke noob, I used to smoke the s#it out of these. My local B&M sold them for $3 or $4. This was back before Tabacalera Tropical became Casa Fernandez, and they mostly made cigars for other people.
Recently on Cbid, somebody started a 'cigar brands you miss' thread, and I wondered if these bundles were still around. They are! Google brought me to a smoke shop in PA that still has a stash of these smokes. Apparently they are still being made as well. I ordered a bundle of corojo torps and a bundle of CT robustos.
Appearance: YELLOW cello! I'd guess this bundle is around 10 years old. Nice looking, even colored wrapper for a $2 bundle cigar. Decent weight in the hand. Nice cut; easy draw. A *little* too easy, but not too bad.
First few draws...nice but typical 'cigar' flavor (straight tobacco).
About 1" in...a pleasant 'toasty' flavor has come in. As I type, the aroma coming from the foot is very nice.
About 2" in...similar dominant flavors and aromas. Full side of medium "strength". Pretty standard Nicaraguan blend/corojo wrap flavors; with a distinct Nicaraguan flavor. What's really hilarious is that "The Untouchables" is on the TV right now, and I'm smoking a cigar at the exact same moment in the film when Ness and his team (and Capone and his team) are celebrating by smoking cigars. Small burn correction.
About halfway...this cigar is tasting and smelling really good. I've always said that there are cigars that smell better than they taste and cigars that taste better than they smell (the same is true with wines). A slightly tart flavor on the draw with pretty standard Nicaraguan flavors in the nose and on the finish. Another small burn correction.
A little past halfway...pretty similar flavors and aromas, but damn good. The cigar is getting a bit soft, but that's to be expected for a ROTT cigar. The flavor is still good, but the burn is getting a bit wonky.
Toward the end...the burn has gotten pretty crooked, but the flavors and aromas are still on point. I let this cigar die at around 1.5".
Final thoughts...not bad at all for an old $2 bundle cigar. Will I buy another bundle? Probably not.
:-)
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