So there's only good things about this cigar, regardless of my average tasting experience. The good things are: 1) It tastes like AJ so for the plethora fans out there, winner winner. 2) It's only $9 for a Robusto extra-ish. Chicken dinner. With all that said though, the AJ Fernandez Enclave by Eladio Diaz Robusto isn't for me.
I’ve smoked the Davidoff Royal Release Robusto and Salomones before, but it was great to smoke an unbanded Robusto from 2014. You could tell that there was age on the cigar, but even with over ten years of age, the cigar still had flavors, body and strength. The cigar showed nice transitioning throughout and delivered a solid flavor profile. The coconut shaving flavor present throughout was great, and I liked the rise in strength and body with more pepper and earth notes as the cigar progressed.
I loved this Patina LE 2024, and found it captured all the tobacco present in the cigar. It had the qualities of Broadleaf, Mexican San Andres, Nicaraguan and USA. It was rich and full in body from start to finish. The flavor profile of anise, malts, coffee and dark cocoa were great, and it had a long finish as well. The construction was fantastic, and the size was perfect for a blend of this nature. Patina has been on a roll, and I am always looking forward to their next release.
The Vicente Blends Gold Standard V was a brand I was unfamiliar with, and I was pleasantly surprised at the complex and layered flavor delivery for the first and second thirds. The last third had some of the same components but wasn't able to find the same level of balance as the rest of the cigar. This was an enjoyable cigar to review and firmly puts Vicente Blends on my radar as a brand I want to explore more.
A fantastic price point is enough to get me excited for potential budget cigar worthiness. But I don't smoke cigars for the price points, it's all about the flavors. Given that, the Don Pepín García E.R.H. Robusto was a disappointment. While the first third showed plenty of promise, the overall profile was too linear in minerals and spice. Not my jam, but I do recommend trying it to see if you can find your bargain bin.
The Buenaventura Favoritos Natural 56 is a solid cigar. The pricing on this is incredible, and it’s wild to say that after smoking the Connecticut. I loved the vitola on the cigar as well, and the larger ring gauge just worked out well. I don’t think I would have liked this as much in a smaller vitola. Would possibly be too much for me and destroy my palate. I still can’t believe this is under $6.00.
I was genuinely surprised with how much I enjoyed this AJ Fernandez New World Navegante. It’s been years since I’ve had the blend but I thought I remember it being a “pepper-bomb.” Although it had some spice, it was by no means a “pepper-bomb” and it’s a cigar I’d certainly come back to. I can see this cigar being a great candidate for aging with the amount of body it has as well.
The RoMa Craft CroMagnon Clovis is a solid example of a cigar that's blended to incorporate the barber pole wrapper into the profile, rather than something that's just a gimmick. I found the first third to be the most engaging in terms of flavor combinations, and the rest of the cigar was still pleasant to smoke. I enjoyed the flavor profile, and as I'm a fan of RoMa Craft in general, this is a cigar that I would likely pick up at a B&M if I saw it on the shelf.
The J. London Mr. London The Introduction Super Robusto had a nice start, with a nice combination of flavors and balance. The balance shifted in the second third and dropped a level as the earth picked up and the cigar maintained that level the rest of the way. This was a nice introduction to this new series and I'm interested to see future iterations, but this cigar didn't really do enough to make me want to seek it out with any real frequency.
The Rocky Patel Gold Label Robusto had promising flavor combinations in the first third that kept me quite engaged. The profile was still interesting in the second third but not at the same level of complexity, becoming more average as it moved into the last third. I would say the price point on the Gold Label Robusto is fairly reasonable for the 2024 market, and I would smoke this cigar again but I don't think I would actively seek it out.