Fonseca Robusto

[Don Fernando]

This cigar is a classic, made at the Matasa factory owned and operated by the Quesada family that has been in tobacco for decades. I don’t know exactly how they got the rights to the fonseca name, if they bought it or if they owned it in Cuba too and just continued to use the name after the exodus, might be a good question if I ever run into them at Intertabac.

I got this cigars years ago and let it age in my humidor, not for the sake of aging but because it has a Connecticut Shade wrapper, a wrapper I used to hate but started to appreciate during the last year so it’s time to give this Fonseca a chance to impress me. The filler is tobacco from the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic.

the wrapper is light reddish brown color, its a nice color. The wrapper has one vein at the back. The ring is simple, golden with red and white, thin paper, good printing quality. The cigar feels evenly packed with a nice triple cap. The aroma of the cigar reminds me of a mild vinegar and lovage.

I cut the cigar cold draw is great. I taste floral notes with a little pepper. The first flavor is a nice and smooth coffee. Soon I taste some nutmeg too. After an inch the cigar turns a little harsh. The harshness disappears at the one third mark. Halfway I taste fresh wood and refined sugar, the cigar is quite sweet although there’s still a rough edge on the flavor. The final third is sweet, floral with spices. I taste cloves and cumin with a minty aftertaste. The cigar is smooth all of a sudden. Near the end I taste coffee again with some vanilla.

The draw is great but the smoke is thin and gray. The ash is white and dense. The burn is uneven and had to be corrected a few times. This cigar is mild to medium bodied and medium flavored. The smoke time is an hour and twenty minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? Nah, only the last third hit the spot.

Score: 86

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