Tabacalera Del Oriente San Martin Robusto

I picked a box of 10 of these Robustos on a whim - I had honestly never heard of them prior to seeing them in a B+M's humidor in Texas. I lit one up last night with a glass of Caol Isla 12 year old Scotch.

Pre-Light

Light wrapper with a fairly large number of veins. The cap is a little on the rough side. The foot is a little bit ragged, but not excessively so. After being cut with a punch, the pre-light draw is even and seems to have just the right amount of resistance. The pre-light aroma is mild and sweet - straw, with a hint of a floral note.

1/3

Lots of smoke. No initial harshness at all - there's an immediate sweet, caramel, toasted-marshmallow note. Very smooth and delicate. Not a lot of complexity in the flavours, but very enjoyable for sure! At this point, the burn is nice and even - despite some operator error during lighting.



2/3

Continuing with plenty of smoke. The toasted marshmallow note is staying at the front of the flavour, with a little bit of light woodsy flavour behind it. Both the amount of smoke and the caramel note were so obvious that the friend sitting next to me (enjoying an AF Short Story) commented on both. Not much of a change in the flavour profile from the first third. The burn is continuing to be very even, with a nice solid white ash.

3/3

This is where I was disappointed with this stick. The flavour profile abruptly changed, becoming much harsher and the temperature of the smoke went up dramatically. Despite a purge and slowing down the frequency of puffs, the cigar never recovered. I didn't push it, and set this stick aside almost immediately after finishing the second third.


I'm fascinated by the light, sweet, toasted note that was dominant during the first and second thirds of this cigar. I would like to see a bit more complexity somewhere during the burn, but even without that if the final third of the cigar lived up to the first two thirds I'd be very happy with it.

I think that I'll leave the rest of this box to age for a while, and see if the final third settles down.