Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto is dark tan with some raised, knotty veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is deep blue, gold, white and electric blue and denotes the line, with the brand logo on front and back. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of cedar and earth, while the foot brings graham cracker, hay and earth. The pre-light draw brings graham cracker, cedar and some earth along with a mild spiciness on my lips and the tip of my tongue.
Seth: The Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto is solid in appearance. The wrapper sports a dark Claro to Natural wrapper. It has small veins throughout and is silky in texture. It has a dark hay color, and gives off an aroma of cedar, hay, earth, sweet spices and tobacco.
John: The Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto comes in cellophane and features a UPC sticker with cigar information, which tears when opened. The cigar has a single band. I weighed the cigar at 13.1 grams and measured the humidity with the Humidimeter Pro at 63.9%. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet, musty tobacco, some vegetal notes and mild wood underneath. From the foot, I was getting largely sweet tobacco and wood.
Jiunn: The Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto has an even and velvety Colorado Claro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, the bunch and roll feels pretty tight without much give and the head is well wrapped and capped. Pre-light aromas tell of cedar and cheesy barnyard.

Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with creamy hay, cedar, earth and mild black pepper. At a quarter inch in, the black pepper increases a bit. The retrohale is a fuller version of the same profile from the mouth draws. At three quarters of an inch in, a mild effervescent minerality joins in. As the third comes to a close, the creamy hay is a bit ahead of the cedar and earth a bit further behind. There is some black pepper and effervescent minerality in the back half. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third begins with cedar, hay and tobacco. There are some coffee and sweet spice notes present, and a faint creaminess on the finish. It is just under medium in strength and body.
John: The cigar gets going in the first third with creamy sweet tobacco and mild toasted nuttiness leading off, as dry wood finishes. Baking spices rapidly settle into the retrohale at light-plus strength. As the cigar continues to the halfway point of the first third, the baking spices recede down to mild strength levels.
Jiunn: The first third presents a fairly linear smoking experience. Cedar wood, oily mouthfeel with decent tannins and maybe a touch of black coffee. Retrohaling is the best part, giving more distinctness in flavors in tart cherries and spicier cedar. The finish is clean with aged cedar. Strength and body is medium.

Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the black pepper mellows a bit. At a half inch in, the creamy hay recedes back to where the cedar is. The retrohale is now just creamy hay, cedar and some light earth. At an inch in, the effervescent minerality departs. As the third comes to a close, the creamy hay and cedar are even up front, with earth a bit behind and some black pepper in the background. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third is in line with the first. There’s no transitioning, or any change with the blend. Coffee, sweet spices, cedar, hay and tobacco. Creaminess as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: The second third begins with creamy wood and nuts, as a mild vegetal note forms the center of the profile and dry wood finishes. Increasing dryness begins to settle on the palate as the cigar approaches the halfway point of the second third.
Jiunn: The second third shares a very similar experience as the first third. The profile does get a bit more oily but the linear flavors falls shorter. Strength and body remains medium.

Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the black pepper has departed and the cedar gains a toast note. The retrohale is now an even mix of creamy hay, toasted cedar and earth. The cigar wraps up with creamy hay and toasted cedar up front and some earth a bit behind. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The final third is in line with the first and second. Notes of coffee, sweet spices, cedar, hay and tobacco. Like before, medium in strength and body.
John: The last third kicks things off with creamy, mild dry wood and nuts, with dry hay and wood to finish. Dryness on the post draw moves up to medium strength by the halfway point.
Jiunn: The final third turns acrid with lasting toasted and burnt cedar. I still enjoy the oily mouthfeel but the flavors have turned for the worse. Strength and body finishes the same medium.

Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn was an issue as it was pretty wavy throughout, and during the second third, the cigar struggled to burn and went out four times, requiring re-lights.
Seth: The burn was very good from start to finish.
John: The burn was straight through the first third, becoming wavy in the second third. The cigar went out in the final third, requiring a re-light.
Jiunn: The burn was terrible from the initial foot toast. The cigar took extra long to light and once lit, multiple touch-ups were needed within the first two thirds to get the burn on track.

Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Perfect draw.
John: I measured the draw at 45 inches of water with the CigarMedics Draw Machine. Subjectively, the draw was centered between open and resistant for a perfect draw.
Jiunn: Draw performance was a bit tight. Almost annoying but I’ll let it slide.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with creamy hay, cedar, earth and mild black pepper. The black pepper increased a bit early on and later an effervescent minerality joined in. The second third saw the pepper and creamy hay mellow a bit. Later, the effervescent minerality departed. The final third saw the black pepper depart and the cedar gained a toast note. The burn struggles in the second third were quite the disappointment. The Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto had a nice start, with a good combination of flavors. It took a step down in the second third as the re-lights likely took their toll on the profile and remained at that level the rest of the way. I’ll have to see what the others experienced in regards to construction to see if they had a better flavor profile throughout to see if I need to come back to this. As it stands, I’m a wait and see on this one.
Seth: The Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto was average from beginning to end. The flavor profile was not overly complex, but it had a somewhat solid profile from start to finish. Construction was perfect with the cigar. One of those cigars that was a cigar and that’s about it. The sad thing is I could see Alec Bradley releasing this when it was Alec Bradley.
John: The Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto is one of those cigars that starts off with a really inviting character defined by creamy sweetness, toasted nuttiness and well-behaved baking spices that settle in comfortably. The first third felt approachable in the best sense, with flavors that played well together without trying too hard to impress. As the cigar moved into the middle and final thirds, however, the profile became increasingly defined by dryness. While the core notes of wood, nuts and hay stayed consistent, the rising dry character on the palate made the cigar feel narrower and less expressive over time. A wavy burn and an eventual re-light reinforced the sense of decline in the second half. Still, the cigar showed enough initial charm to keep the experience enjoyable, even if it didn’t fully deliver on the promise of its opening. In the end, it settled into an “Average” performance overall, pleasant and balanced early on, but gradually overtaken by dryness that limited its depth and complexity. The total smoking time was 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Jiunn: What a fitting name for this cigar. Do Not Disturb. I know I’ll never want to disturb this Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto in the sense of not wanting to smoke it again. I think the atrocious burn caused the lackluster smoking experience. I’m curious of the experience my teammates had but within this experience, no thanks.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.23

Cost/Point

$1.60

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$1.48

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$1.42

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

4.70

Cost/Point

$1.79

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Alec Bradley Do Not Disturb Robusto