Cigars.ie

The 12 Robustos of Christmas

December 24th 2009

Christmas is a great time for smoking cigars; many of us keep our best stogies for Christmas day and new years day. Being quite indecisive of what to smoke this year, we decided to smoke twelve robustos, one on each of the twelve days of Christmas, and review them head to head to decide which one is our favourite.

For the twelve days of Christmas (Dec 26th to January 6th) we will be reviewing a Robusto each and every day. So stay tuned while we smoke through all the robustos  in regular production, leave your comments and compare your scores to ours.

Happy Christmas

December 26th 2009, Day 1 - Trinidad Robusto T - 93 points

December 27th 2009, Day 2 - El Rey Del Mundo Choix Suprême - 85 points

December 28th 2009, Day 3 - Juan Lopez Seleccion No.2 - 82 points

December 29th 2009, Day 4 - Vegas Robaina Famoso - 91 points

December 30th 2009, Day 5 - H Upmann Connoisseur No.1 - 90 ponts

December 31st 2009, Day 6 - Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.2 - 90 points

January 1st 2010, Day 7 - Partagas Serie D No. 4 - 93 points

January 2nd 2010, Day 8 - Bolivar Royal Corona - 91 points

January 3rd 2010, Day 9 - Ramon Allones Specially Selected -92 points

January 4th 2010, Day 10 - Saint Luis Rey Regio - 82 points

January 5th 2010, Day 11 - Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No.4 - 80 points

January 6th 2010, Day 12 - Cohiba Robusto - 94 points

January 8th 2010, Day 13 - Partagas D4 Reserva - 91 points

January 7th 2010

Christmas is over officially, and all my robustos are gone. I enjoyed smoking and reviewing these cigars, even though it was hard sometimes, especially on days I was stuck in work for the evening. I got to try cigars I had never smoked before (H.Uppmann Conni #1, SLR Regio, RyJ Ex.#4) and smoke brands I haven’t had in a while (ERDM, VR, Trinidad).

My favourite robusto after smoking all of them? Well, I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of them and dissapointed from some of them too. I will do a countdown, from 3 to 1 (cigaraficionado style)!

I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the Trinidad Robusto T. Very smooth cigar, complex and creamy, fantastic construction, perfect draw and burn. If you want a cigar that is the closest to a Cohiba Robusto, but not as strong, then the Trinidad is what you are looking for! Well deserved 3rd place and 93 points.

The Partagas D4 has always been one of my favourite cigars - if not the No.1. Its consistency is phenomenal, even though it is produced in huge amounts every year. You really need to look hard to find a bad D4. Strong and full bodied, bold and rustic, complex and balanced, the D4 is a fantastic cigar. And whats even more amazing is that year after year it is getting better and better. And whats even more amazing is its value. It is one of the cheapest robustos and actually half the price of the cigar on the top spot. 2nd place, not too far away from No.1.

My favourite cigar from this series of review, was the highest rated cigar, the mighty Cohiba Robusto. I don’t get to smoke a Cohiba very often. But when I do, it is always an experience that I will remember it for a while! The flavour of a Cohiba Robusto is so unique and different that it cannot be compared to anything else. The Trinidad T was the closest , but the creaminess and sweet spicyness of the Cohiba was unparalleled. If price is not an issue, then the Cohiba Robusto is possibly the best Robusto money can buy. 1st place.

Since I wrote the review of the Cohiba Robusto yesterday, I have been trying to think if there is another Cuban Robusto that could score higher than 94. in fact I have tried one that has been amazing, but did not review or score it. I still have some of them in my humidor, and I will review one tomorrow in order to make it a baker’s dozen! I am not telling you which one it is, you will have to wait till tomorrow night to find out!

January 8th 2010

We felt that the only cigar that could be a challenger to the Cohiba Robusto on the top spot would be the Partagas D4 Reserva. We grabbed two sticks with Mark and headed to the Havana room to find out how they would size up against our top 3. See the review here.