Kind of long, bear with me. Leave some comments.
RP Nording Robusto Maduro
Price Paid: $5.91 at a local B&M
5½” x 52rg Robusto
Costa Rican wrapper, Mexican binder and a filler blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco
I saw this cigar at my local B&M a few weeks ago and had to pick it up. I loved the white band and the dark oily wrapper so I bought it, brought it home and let it sit until today. I figured I like maduros, robustos and Rocky Patels, so it should be enjoyable.
The wrapper was not the prettiest wrapper with some veins showing, but it was dark and oily and had a nice pigtail cap. I think a common descriptor for this type of wrapper would be “rustic.” Took the band off, normally I leave the band on, but I wanted to see if it would come off easily and it slid up without any problems so I just took it off. Cut with a guillotine, some the shards of tobacco fell out of the cap and onto the newspaper below, a little annoying, but only because it was unexpected. Prelight draw was smooth with no resistance and left a strong tingle on my lips. It lit smoothly and right off the bat began to give off large volumes of smoke, even when resting.
The initial flavours were mostly leather with nice deep tobacco flavours. Not the fullest body in terms of mouth feel and not the most complex flavours, but pleasurable nonetheless. Medium, slightly nutty finish with no off flavours, very nice.
As the cigar progressed, the flavours mellowed a bit and sweetened slightly. At this point the cigar was burning quite nicely and had a decent burn line despite the veins. However, the ash was not all that attractive, slightly dark and lacked the nice layering that I prefer. The draw began to tighten up a little, but I preferred that as I though the initial draw was a tad too loose for my liking.
I tried to leave the cigar for a moment, but it did require some babysitting as I felt a little like it was going to go out if I didn't smoke it. As a result it started to burn a little hot. As long as I paced myself well though, there was no problem.
I ashed first at about one inch into the cigar and then the cigar started burning a little weird. One side was burning a little slower than the others and the burn line was a little jagged. I decided not to touch it up though and see if it corrected itself.
Moving into the second third, the flavours did seem to intensify slightly, but only slightly. The flavour was still nice, leathery and rich. There was a bit of pepper on the back of my tongue, but the tingling on my lips had dissipated. I noticed a hint of fruit in the smoke coming off of the cigar and the finish. The burn continued to be troublesome, so I was forced to touch it up.
The wrapper was holding together nicely which I appreciated because the last couple cigars I'd smoked had some splitting right ahead of the burn line.
Into the final third, the flavour began to develop some more. Mt burn problems continued, but I enjoyed the flavour too much to quit now. Nice toasty notes began to emerge as did some more pepper and spice on the finish. The burn line is pretty jagged now, almost like crocodile teeth, I stopped caring. I was intent on nubbing this baby. The sweet maduro flavours kicked in at this point and it was really tasty now. I have no idea what full-body or medium body is in comparison, I just haven't smoked enough cigars to have a baseline, but I can tell you at this point the body was fuller than when I started.
As I approached where the band would have been on this cigar, the flavours were really blending together nicely. A bit of canoeing was noticed after the third ashing. I think it may have been because I was smoking too slowly to avoid further uneven burns and having the cigar burn too hot. It did start burning a little hot, but it was getting pretty short and I did pick up my rate of smoking so it was not unexpected.
I smoked it until there was under an inch left, not quite a nub, but at about an hour and fifteen minutes of smoke time, I had no regrets. Some light hints of chocolate came in at the end to finish of a great cigar. The ash held on well throughout the cigar and I at least didn't have to worry about that. Overall, I'd say it was a nice bodied, decently complex smoke that was totally enjoyable except the burn. I'd have to smoke another couple to make the final verdict and see if this was an isolated burn problem, but I probably won't buy many more at the B&M price. In terms of value, I think it's priced correctly at just under $4 a stick at the box price, but unless I got a deal, I probably won't buy a box and would rather pick up some other sticks at the single price. I'd definitely recommend trying this one out, but you have to be willing to focus on the smoke, it was hard to smoke it and write this review because it was not one you could smoke and forget. For the price I'd give it a 8.5 out of 10 for flavor, a 4 out of 10 for the burn, a 7 out of 10 for appearance and 7.5 out of 10 overall. Hope you guys enjoyed this review.
RP Nording Robusto Maduro
Price Paid: $5.91 at a local B&M
5½” x 52rg Robusto
Costa Rican wrapper, Mexican binder and a filler blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco
I saw this cigar at my local B&M a few weeks ago and had to pick it up. I loved the white band and the dark oily wrapper so I bought it, brought it home and let it sit until today. I figured I like maduros, robustos and Rocky Patels, so it should be enjoyable.
The wrapper was not the prettiest wrapper with some veins showing, but it was dark and oily and had a nice pigtail cap. I think a common descriptor for this type of wrapper would be “rustic.” Took the band off, normally I leave the band on, but I wanted to see if it would come off easily and it slid up without any problems so I just took it off. Cut with a guillotine, some the shards of tobacco fell out of the cap and onto the newspaper below, a little annoying, but only because it was unexpected. Prelight draw was smooth with no resistance and left a strong tingle on my lips. It lit smoothly and right off the bat began to give off large volumes of smoke, even when resting.
The initial flavours were mostly leather with nice deep tobacco flavours. Not the fullest body in terms of mouth feel and not the most complex flavours, but pleasurable nonetheless. Medium, slightly nutty finish with no off flavours, very nice.
As the cigar progressed, the flavours mellowed a bit and sweetened slightly. At this point the cigar was burning quite nicely and had a decent burn line despite the veins. However, the ash was not all that attractive, slightly dark and lacked the nice layering that I prefer. The draw began to tighten up a little, but I preferred that as I though the initial draw was a tad too loose for my liking.
I tried to leave the cigar for a moment, but it did require some babysitting as I felt a little like it was going to go out if I didn't smoke it. As a result it started to burn a little hot. As long as I paced myself well though, there was no problem.
I ashed first at about one inch into the cigar and then the cigar started burning a little weird. One side was burning a little slower than the others and the burn line was a little jagged. I decided not to touch it up though and see if it corrected itself.
Moving into the second third, the flavours did seem to intensify slightly, but only slightly. The flavour was still nice, leathery and rich. There was a bit of pepper on the back of my tongue, but the tingling on my lips had dissipated. I noticed a hint of fruit in the smoke coming off of the cigar and the finish. The burn continued to be troublesome, so I was forced to touch it up.
The wrapper was holding together nicely which I appreciated because the last couple cigars I'd smoked had some splitting right ahead of the burn line.
Into the final third, the flavour began to develop some more. Mt burn problems continued, but I enjoyed the flavour too much to quit now. Nice toasty notes began to emerge as did some more pepper and spice on the finish. The burn line is pretty jagged now, almost like crocodile teeth, I stopped caring. I was intent on nubbing this baby. The sweet maduro flavours kicked in at this point and it was really tasty now. I have no idea what full-body or medium body is in comparison, I just haven't smoked enough cigars to have a baseline, but I can tell you at this point the body was fuller than when I started.
As I approached where the band would have been on this cigar, the flavours were really blending together nicely. A bit of canoeing was noticed after the third ashing. I think it may have been because I was smoking too slowly to avoid further uneven burns and having the cigar burn too hot. It did start burning a little hot, but it was getting pretty short and I did pick up my rate of smoking so it was not unexpected.
I smoked it until there was under an inch left, not quite a nub, but at about an hour and fifteen minutes of smoke time, I had no regrets. Some light hints of chocolate came in at the end to finish of a great cigar. The ash held on well throughout the cigar and I at least didn't have to worry about that. Overall, I'd say it was a nice bodied, decently complex smoke that was totally enjoyable except the burn. I'd have to smoke another couple to make the final verdict and see if this was an isolated burn problem, but I probably won't buy many more at the B&M price. In terms of value, I think it's priced correctly at just under $4 a stick at the box price, but unless I got a deal, I probably won't buy a box and would rather pick up some other sticks at the single price. I'd definitely recommend trying this one out, but you have to be willing to focus on the smoke, it was hard to smoke it and write this review because it was not one you could smoke and forget. For the price I'd give it a 8.5 out of 10 for flavor, a 4 out of 10 for the burn, a 7 out of 10 for appearance and 7.5 out of 10 overall. Hope you guys enjoyed this review.
