Mac and I split a box of these this week so I thought I'd light one up and see how good they really are. These are pretty new smokes with an imposing black band that covers pretty much the whole cigar. The size is a robusto, although at 5.5x54, its pretty big for a robusto. They come in boxes of 20 and run about 60 a box. I paired it with a coke. The wrapper is a habano and it had minimal veins and the foot had a good spicy smell. Good oily sheen to the wrapper also.

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The first third had some good spice to it, but not overpowering like I thought it would be. Not really a pepper spice, alot mellower than that. It stayed this way until the second third where it picked up some woody notes along with the spice. This is definitely not a full bodied, ass kicking smoke by any means but its an enjoyable one. Can't really complain for the price point. The woodsy taste stayed until the nub which was appealing. I was happy with the cigar when I was finished. Not very complex, but had the flavors I expected and produced a ton of white billowing smoke. I would give it an 8 out of 10. Maybe come age might help. Was hoping it was more full bodied but hey they all can't be ass kickers.
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Nice review Kevin. Looking forwarding to enjoying these. :-) :-)
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I'm going to have to look for a few on C bid. Thanks for the review Kevin.
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Nice review Kevin I was looking at these also. Might try and snag a 5er to try.

Also I can use the band to wall paper my new apt :-)
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Who Makes These Kevin? Nice Review!:-)
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I believe its Pinar Del Rio.
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What Mac said.
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Thanks!:-):-)
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nice review, i'll have to give this one a try one day!
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Actually just saw this in cigar.com mag, may have to sample
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Looks like a interesting stick! I will have to pick one up if I see it.
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Great review Kevin, I was curious about how these smoked.
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Thanks for the review. Will keep and eye out for them
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I tried one of these earlier this week and pretty much agree exactly on the flavors and the strength. I had one in the 4.5" x 60. I expected it to be stronger, but I would probably only put it as a medium body.

A few additions I noticed are that it was moderately firm, but still a hair soft. I used a punch to cut it because of the larger ring gauge, and it drew really nicely. Burned really even and even letting it sit for up to 5 minutes at one point I never had to relight. About a 45 minute smoke or so, maybe a little longer, in that size. I got about a 1-1/2" ash, but I was tender with it to get it that far, at the 1" point I could see it getting a little fragile. Lots of white smoke, a nice light gray ash.

I will have to try 1 or 2 more before I decide if these earn a place in my collection.
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Good review and assessment Kevin! Smoked my first one just last night and must agree that it was a good smoke, expecially for the price! Very mellow smoke, not much kick to it. Wasn't very complex either as you stated. For me it stayed pretty consistent flavor wise throughout the entire smoke.

This could easily be an everday smoke for the price...
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Makes sense you would like it as you are a Pinar Del Rio fan!

Thanks for the review. I thought these would have been full bodied goods to know.
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Good review Kev. Thanks
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Thnaks for the good review... :-)
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Good to hear, I just got some off of C-bid. Thanks
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Thanks for the review!! Looks like I have to add a couple of these to the list.
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