Overall, the Powstanie Sumatra Grand Robusto is a cigar that peaks early and then settles into a more restrained and consistent middle before losing some of its balance toward the end. Even with that decline, the cigar delivers enough complexity and balance across the first two thirds to earn a Good overall rating.
Where the cigar started and where the cigar finished was very far apart, and it's hard to find commonality in the flavor profile in those two thirds. Ultimately, the Casa Carrillo Deep Blue Limited Edition 2026 was an underwhelming experience that landed right in the Average category.
Overall, the CAO Surplus Shade Robusto had a solid start with some enjoyable sweetness, creaminess and a touch of chocolate that provided the most interesting part of the smoking experience. Unfortunately, the profile became progressively simpler as the review continued, eventually settling into a largely wood-driven experience without much additional development. For a budget cigar, this offering punches well outside of its price class.
This West Tampa Chef Rick was a bold and rich cigar that felt satiating. The candy sweetness paired with big spice retrohale, earthy, and herbal background was just the right amount of full flavors and fuller strength to keep me wanting more draws. I'd for sure want to smoke more of these.
The Smoke This Trust Me Habano Robusto is a good cigar. The flavor profile is lovely from beginning to end, and the profile itself has nice components. It was balanced and complex. There was not a lot of transitioning throughout the cigar, but there was enough complexity to provide for a good smoking experience. Great burn and draw as well, which helps in an easy smoking experience.
The Montecristo Classic No. 2 had a nice flavor profile through the first two thirds, focused around toasted cedar and earth, but the supporting notes all did a good job of balancing the profile. It took a step down in the final third as the balance went off a bit due to the earth, leather and strength. This is a nice Connecticut shade offering that offers a lower strength profile. It's fairly expensive, but if you are OK with this price range and enjoy this profile, it's well worth a try and isn't just a cigar playing off the Cuban name.
Monthly, we will put together a list of all of the cigars that were released, or announced to be released, in the previous month. This should give you an easy way to stay in tune with new releases.
Overall, the Joya de Nicaragua Clásico Original Green Room Selection is a good cigar, capturing a good amount of complexities to never bore the palate. The combination of spice, wood, natural sweet creaminess and a mouth coating oiliness worked really well. It's not the typical profile that I gravitate towards but I respect and enjoyed the blend.
Can one flavor note make a cigar good if it pops that much? My answer is no, although I LOVED the jammy stone fruit delivery of this JRE Aladino 250th. But the jam was accented very nicely by marshmallows creamed coffee, zippy minerals and cedar. On a side note, I'd love to know what tobacco is giving that great jammy stone fruit taste.
The Black Works Studio Boondock Robusto had a nice start, with a bold mix of toasted oak, dark earth and black pepper. The pepper began to fade as the cigar went along and with the earth moving to the front of the profile with the oak, it took a step down in the second third and maintained that level the rest of the way. The overall profile was pretty linear from the second third on.