Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the rectangle pressed Artista Falu Robusto is dark brown and has a network of raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps have a fair amount of raised edges and could have been applied better. The band is cream, burgundy and bronze and carries the company logo on front and name on the side/back. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of dark earth and stewed fruit while the foot brings a mix of cedar and earth. The pre-light draw is dry cedar with a bit of a floral note.
Seth: The Artista Falu Robusto is not an attractive cigar. It is a little rough in appearances. Rough maduro with small veins throughout. Firm in hand with a coloring of dark raisins. Aromas of leather, sweet spices, earth, tobacco and dried fruit.
John: The Artista Falu Robusto comes in cellophane with a UPC sticker that has the cigar information and comes off in one piece when the cellophane is opened. For artisanal complications, the cigar has a box press to it. I weighed the cigar at 15.4 grams and the humidity was measured at 65.1% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included tobacco, barnyard, wood and general sweetness. Out of the foot, I was getting chocolate, coffee, wood and barnyard.

Artista Falu Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a mellow mix of toasted cedar, earth and a bit of buttered popcorn. At a half inch in, the popcorn note is barely hanging on, but there is a bit more of it on the retrohale. At three quarters of an inch in, the earth has a slight lead over the cedar. The retrohale is an even mix of toasted cedar and earth with a bit of popcorn. As the third comes to a close, the profile is just an even mix of toasted cedar and dry earth. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third opens with some herbal tobacco notes. There are some wood, leather and earth qualities as well, and the finish has this cocoa and fruity quality. Medium in strength and body, the cigar has a long finish. Faint mineral notes.
John: The first few puffs are wood, sweet tobacco, light spices following and joining wood into the post draw. Some coffee and earth are also present on the post draw after a delay, with both at light plus strength. Earth and espresso leads the retrohale with pepper and spice at medium strength, providing a lingering finish. As the first third continues, a malty sweetness mixes with the espresso, tobacco and toasted earth in the center with the toasted earth combining with wood through the finish. Some time later, chocolate is leading the profile with espresso following.

Artista Falu Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth becomes a bit richer. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and earth. At an inch in, a light black pepper joins the profile. As the third comes to a close, the toast level on the cedar has increased a bit and the earth is still even with it while some black pepper is in the background. The strength has bumped up to medium.
Seth: The second third really goes south, and it is earthy and mineral forward. There is this unpleasant herbal and fruit quality present as well. Bad fruit. Medium in strength and body. Lead on the finish with rough tobacco and wood.
John: The second third gets started with sweet tobacco, medium strength spices and the spices mixing with wood to finish. Chocolate moves into the center after a few puffs. As the second third has settled, a medium strength earth is present on the finish. Astringent wood joins the post draw by the halfway point. Medium-full strength earth is defining the finish in the bottom half.

Artista Falu Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the black pepper picks up a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and mild black pepper. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar and earth remain even up front, with black pepper a fair bit behind. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third is right in line with the second. Unpleasant. Medium-full in strength and body.
John: The last third opens with creamy tobacco, spices following and earth that picks up intensity on the finish and brings wood accents with it. Chocolate returns to the center of the retrohale as the last third settles in. By the halfway point, almost a floral component is present on the retrohale at light plus strength.

Artista Falu Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight through the first half of the cigar, then the burn became wavy and the cigar went out three times, requiring re-lights.
Seth: The burn was wavy throughout.
John: The burn was straight but had moments of stalling early in the first third. The burn became uneven in the first, which continued into the second, requiring a touch-up. The burn continued to stall in the second third and last third. An uneven burn developed in the last third requiring another touch-up.

Artista Falu Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: The draw was tight from beginning to end.
John: The draw was right in the ideal zone between open and resistant for an amazing draw score.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a mellow mix of toasted cedar, earth and a bit of buttered popcorn. The popcorn note faded away by the end of the third. The second third saw some black pepper join in and it built up a bit in the final third. The Artista Falu Robusto had an average flavor profile through, really just focused around toasted cedar and earth with black pepper as a supporting note. The flavor delivery was pretty good though, so if you’re a fan of just cedar and earth, this might be worthwhile to try. For me, this was just a bit too simple to make me really want to come back to.
Seth: I did not care for the Artista Falu Robusto. I am not sure where the Broadleaf is from, in some ways I don’t care, but it looked and smoked poorly. I could pick up the Indonesian tobacco, which is never good, and the filler blend just killed my palate. It’s going to be hard to go back to an Artista blend after smoking this offering.
John: The Artista Falu Robusto had interesting flavor combinations that kept me engaged in the first third. The second and last thirds were pleasant, but didn’t have the same dynamic combinations as the first third. The draw was perfect while the burn required two touch-ups through the review. I don’t think the Artista Falu is something I would return to in the Robusto format, but I’d be interested in smoking the smaller ring gauge Toro to see how the flavor profile compared. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 56 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.35

Cost/Point

$1.91

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

4.18

Cost/Point

$2.44

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$1.73

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Artista Falu Robusto