The Robusto Cigar Babe: 2017

Tuesday

Falling in Love With Brothers From the House of Emilio Cigar Family

As you know from Twitter, I enjoyed my long loving affair with the AF 2 from Emilio Cigars. But hearing a whisper that I needed to experience the other brother, AF1, I sought him out and added him to my regular line up of Sunday luvrs.

And ohhh was I happy I did ... Mmhmmm

Emilio Cigars AF1 was so good looking. The San Andreas Maduro wrapper with Nicaraguan filler & binder drew me into him quickly. Just the luscious look of this gar made me lick my lips in anticipation to our Sunday date.

Dark & sleek with a delectable pre-lit scent of cocoa & cedar from the wrapper & foot, my mind imagined how the date could play out. I stole a brief kiss of a cold draw tasting a preview of coffee and nuts.

With excitement for the date beginning, I lit AF1 & drew in the dimensional smoke into my mouth, held for a bit savoring these first flaves in each puff. The 1st Third held flavors that make me take notice quickly -- silky caramel mixed with cafe au lait with a background of pepper spice. Further into the Third brought a slight creamy cocoa flavor.

With satisfaction building, the 2nd Third held my interest with the continuation of coffee bean flavors with a touch of raisin, wood with a background spice. The cigar burn is perfect with the smoke billowing through the room leaving a seductive scent in the room. Completely enraptured with my AF1 cigar, I barely noted people staring at us. I knew they wondered what I was smoking ... their heads cranning to see what had caught my attention and held on tight.

My love affair with AF1 continues into the Final Third with a rich, chocolate taking center stage with a balanced mix of espresso & spice playing a more dominant role. I love the way AF1 commands attention. Intricate, dimensional, and smooth. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with this cigar. AF1 held me tight and soothed away every wrinkle from my day.

But to compare the Emilio brothers AF 1 & AF2 isn't possible. I love them each for different reasons and constantly switch luvrs all the time. AF1 is delectable, but AF2 is sumptuous.

What's a cigar smoking girl to do ?

Can't I just keep it in the family & continue to love them both for different needs ? Mmmhmmm that's the plan. I suggest you try them too.

All about House of Emilio: http://houseofemilio.com/emilio/

Wishing you long ashes --

Robusto Cigar Babe

@RobustoBabe

Monday

All You Need Is a Little Nomad Therapy - I go for the Maduro

I'm always draw immediately to the rugged, dark good looks of a cigar ... and Nomad Therapy Maduro by @Godfadr is a satisfying treat.

The Look is tempting with White and Black Band on a Wrapper with visible veins.

The Cold Draw yields cocoa, tobacco flavors with tingly spice on my lips.

Upon lighting the Initial Puffs produce a spicy start, with Cedar, Earth, Cocoa with a slight sweetness of raisins.

Nomad Therapy is not shy at all. Five minutes into the First Third and a spicy and smoky red pepper makes a bold appearance, along with wood, some white pepper in the background with cinnamon and nutmeg spices.

The white ash hangs for a bit with a killer burn and lots of smoke.

In the end of the First Third the spice has settled down some allowing an aromatic cedar flavor to come in more prominently. The Nomad Therapy has my attention and as I sit and admire the smoky scents, I can feel all my tension fall away from my shoulders. I'm in a deep trance with this Therapy Maduro.

As the ash drops there is a flavor shift to an alluring creaminess, combined with almonds and wood.

It's so nutty, yummy and satisfying.

Second Third has sustained almonds, wood and some spice to keep things interesting. It's the balance of the flavors that excites me. They are distinct and delectable.

Half way into the stick a subtle cocoa emerges and right now I'm in heaven.

Final Third the spice is prominent, mixing well with the cocoa, earth, and wood bringing me to a satisfied finish with the Nomad Therapy Maduro.

This cigar is a dream to smoke. Gives you someone to think about, to meditate on and the finish gives you something to savor long after you say goodbye to this Therapy. I prescribe at least a weekly session, but daily works well too.

Wishing you long ashes ....

Robusto Cigar Babe
@RobustoBabe

Friday

Relaxing at the Cigar Aficion Lounge with One Life Maduro by Nestor Miranda

Any Saturday afternoon you might find me hunting for new cigars at local cigar lounges in and around NYC. I love when really good lounge managers come up to me with ideas for new smokes to try. At Cigar Aficion in Staten Island, the manager there always has a few good ones for me in mind. His suggestion was Nestor Miranda One Life Maduro Danno Edition.

With a dark and rich maduro leaf wrapper, the One Life caught my attention right away with a pigtail cap. With a glistening shine and bulging veins, I found the cigar to look strong and classy ... dapper even.

The band is a very attractive, modern look with red, black and silver colors. I sat down with a smile admiring this beauty of a cigar, and smelled the foot for cocoa and a slight pepper scent. Bottled water in hand, I rolled the pigtail to see if I could smoke it that way, but because the draw didn't feel right, I had to straight cut the cigar.

First Third

Immediately you can taste coffee and chocolate within the first few puffs. There is slight smokey pepper in the background that I'd liken to a chipolte or Hungarian paprika. This cigar is smooth and yummy. I could feel One Life caressing my senses, calming my mind and bringing me into sharing this moment with a dark and luscious love. 20 minutes seemed to fly by bringing me to ...

Second Third

I have to say that a floral or licorice taste came forward with the chocolate and coffee starting to settle into the background. There is this beautiful sweetness that emerges and at first thought, I believed it was raisins, but no, it was succulent plums. Mixing with earthiness, 25 minutes into this third, I could taste black pepper brightening the flavor profile. It was a nice addition to this sumptuous smoke that felt amazing between my lips.

Last Third

The final third opened up with a spice and chocolate that kept the cigar flavorful throughout this experience. A nutty and creamy cashew entered the profile bringing this creamy goodness to this smooth tasting cigar. A few puffs later, a breadiness joined the profile and a subtle raisin sweetness, bringing this Saturday afternoon delight to an end.

I smoked two Nestor Miranda One Life Maduro cigars for this review, both times with Water. The first time at this lounge and the second time during #SundayCigarHerf. It was a very good smoke and I look forward to trying more cigars from this company.

Have a Smokin Week !

Robusto Cigar Babe

Follow me on Twitter: @RobustoBabe

Tuesday

Thanks for the Honor of Being Recognized by Cigar Snob Magazine

I'm so incredibly honored to make the list for

TOP ONLINE CIGAR TWEEPLES

for Cigar Snob Magazine

every issue since January 2017

If you haven't followed these other fine people, please do so.

I'm particularly fond of +Cigar Inspector and @CigarEvents

My Infatuation with Punch Rare Corojo

It happens sometimes. You know you are in a strange city with friends when you are introduced to something special and sometimes sparks just turn into fireworks. That's what happened when I was introduced to Punch Rare Corojo. I was minding my own business ... ok ok I WAS drinking bourbon ... but I had my head on straight. He was luscious, smelled great, was surprisingly not what I thought he'd be ... well, I just fell for him ... hard.

The LOOK:

Punch has that way about him that catches my attention. He is BOX PRESSED with a reddish brown SUMATRA WRAPPER with a PUNGENT scent. I like that in a cigar. We met and shared each others company at the Texas Cigar Festival a couple of years ago, and ever since then, I can't keep my mind off of Punch RC. After just one time with him in Texas, I became obsessed with the idea of him ... the way he made me feel when smoking and the warm scent I still smelled long after our interlude. One moment to my lips and I was hooked.

The COLD DRAW:

Impeccable flavor of COCOA and EARTH come through in the cold draw. Yum and I want more.

Eager to light, The FIRST THIRD yields a mild SPICE with CEDAR and EARTHY goodness. As I continue to puff this cigar, a DARK CHOCOLATE emerges adding a harmonious dimension to this first part of the cigar smoking experience.

The SECOND THIRD has a similar profile to the first part, with similar flavors, SMOOTH deliciousness and luscious SLIGHT sweetness that hangs in the background. I'm completely in love halfway through when a COFFEE bean emerges. This is pure comfort and a whole lotta love right now.

The LAST THIRD brings me to the point of infatuation and on the edge of submission when a hint of NUTTINESS emerges along with a mild SPICE, a little bit of sweet chocolate. Another couple of puffs in and you can taste how the coffee mixes wonderfully with all the other flavors bringing balance, dimension, comfort, relaxation and a whole lotta goodness to your life.

The Punch Rare Corojo is hard to find where I live. I am constantly chasing him for these dynamic flavors. Whenever I find him, I take as much as I can to relive the smoking experience I can't get enough of.

Completely DELISH and BOXWORTHY. You won't be disappointed with this amazing stick.

Wishing You Long Ashes,

Robusto Cigar Babe

@Robustobabe

Friday

My Favorite Cigars of 2016

One of the perks of being on Twitter and various Facebook Cigar Groups, is getting an opportunity to learn about new cigars from people who have similar palates and tastes as I do. That's the thing about cigars -- everyone likes different tastes in them -- so when you are taking suggestions you have to figure out which reviewers, bloggers and cigar lovers like the same things that you do. So asking someone what's good isn't always the best thing to do -- unless you know you have flavor profiles in common.

So for instance, my #SundayCigarHerf cohosts seem to have similar tasting profiles. Except, @PistolCliff and @CigarChairman like gars with lots of red pepper. When they say a cigar is a killer on spice, I know it's not for me -- otherwise our palates are mostly in sync (Yet, we all seem to love @mBombayCigars and @The_DonFonesca Salamanca Cigar Group -- which are vastly different in profiles ). Where as when @Rlilly1018 or @HN_JAD tells me a cigar has graham cracker and cocoa (like the @CurivariCigars BV560) I'm all there. But @Xavier9281 and I have similar "go-to" cigars and flavor profiles, so when he says he loves the +1502Cigars Ruby (and I do too), I take his suggestions seriously when he says his new "go-to" cigar is the +1502Cigars XO !!

There are so many cigars that I loved smoking this year,
but I chose these as my top cigars because they either elevated my palate
or I consistently chose to smoke these luscious cigars in 2016