Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto is dark tan and has a few lightly raised veins present. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is the traditional design for the brand but carries a color combination of pale yellow, gold, black and white for this line. Connecticut is also noted on the band in red. The aroma from the wrapper is musty hay and dustiness while the foot brings cedar and stewed fruit. The pre-light draw brings cedar and a light honey sweetness along with a mild spiciness on my lips.
Seth: Silky wrapper on the Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto with a classic Natural wrapper coloring. Golden hay color with some reddish hues. Aromas of wood, tobacco and spices. Lovely aroma, and lovely cigar.
John: The Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto comes in cellophane and has a UPC sticker on the main cellophane body so it remains intact when opened. The cigar is single banded with Casa Magna Connecticut on it. For aromas, the cigar had sweet wood, faint cream and hay. Out of the foot, I was picking up sweet tobacco, wood and hay.
Jiunn: The Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto has a smooth and even Colorado Claro wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper tell hay, cedar and boiled meat stock. Aromas from the foot tell cedar, hay and aggressive white pepper spice. Cold draws reveal persimmons and aged cedar.

Team Cigar Review: Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar and a mix of heavy minerality and black pepper. At a quarter inch in, some earth joins the profile. At a half inch in, the minerality and black pepper mixture mellows a bit. The retrohale is toasted cedar and earth with a mild mineral and black pepper combination. At an inch in, the minerality and black pepper are now pretty smooth. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front with earth and the minerality and black pepper combination a bit behind. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with creamy notes that are paired with some dry cedar and earth qualities. No spice present, and there is this coffee bean flavor on the finish. Faint, but present. Just under medium in strength and body.
John: The first third opens with sweet cream and wood. Some bitter hay is present through the retrohale, and bitter wood through the post draw. As the first third continues, light-plus toasted earth takes home in the middle of the profile. Not long after, red pepper flake is present on the post draw at medium-minus strength. Black pepper develops on the post draw, rapidly moving up to medium strength. Mild chocolate joins the retrohale approaching the halfway point.
Jiunn: The first third’s profile tastes generic and muddled. A combination of dried red pepper spice, cardboard, cedar and stale dried nuts. Retrohaling gives fairly intense dried red pepper spice and citrus. The finish has that same muddled nature. Strength and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the minerality and black pepper combination has moved to the background. At a half inch in, the earth is now right behind the toasted cedar. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and light minerality. At an inch and a quarter, the black pepper picks up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is up front, with earth right behind, black pepper in the middle and light minerality in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third delivers that earthy, creamy coffee and cedar profile. Faint spice notes on the finish. Again, just under medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood starts things off here, as hay and a delayed dry wood make up the post draw. Red pepper flake has become a background note through the post draw. By the halfway point, tannic wood is finishing the draw and lingering between draws. Creamy wood moves into the center of the profile in the bottom half of the second third.
Jiunn: The second third continues to show a muddled and generic flavor profile. The same spice level is intensified on all fronts (mouth draws, retrohales, and finish), while the other flavors are still intact. Strength and body remains overall medium.

Team Cigar Review: Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the toasted cedar becomes a bit dry. At a half inch in, a light wood bitterness becomes present. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the black pepper mellows. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is toasted cedar up front, with earth right behind and light black pepper, minerality and wood bitterness in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third shows that creamy and coffee quality with a cedar and mineral forward earth finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: Tannic wood leads off, as the same hay from the second third is present on the post draw. Some toasted earth comes into the center as the last third settles in. Hay also joins the center of the profile, after just a few more puffs. The profile evolves to largely wood forward by the bottom half of the last third.
Jiunn: The final third shows no changes. Still a mix mash of dried red pepper spice, cardboard, cedar and stale dried nuts. Strength is inching towards medium-full (still overall medium though), and body is a consistent medium.

Team Cigar Review: Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn line was straight throughout, but the cigar did go out once at the beginning of the final third, requiring a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: Beautiful burn throughout. Lovely ash on the cigar.
John: The burn was straight to start, but felt like it wanted to go out while reviewing it. That suspicion is confirmed as it goes out in the bottom of the first third, requiring a re-light. The burn is straight through the second third, and threatens to go out in the last third, but never does.
Jiunn: Solid burn performance. The only negatives being a couple quick touch-ups required to get the burn on track.

Team Cigar Review: Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Draw was fantastic throughout.
John: The draw was perfect, right in the ideal zone between open and resistant.
Jiunn: Ideal balanced of air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar and a mix of heavy minerality and black pepper. Some earth joined in fairly quickly. The final third saw a light wood bitterness join in. Aside from a single re-light, the construction was perfect. The Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto started well, with a nice combination of flavors, but in the second third, the cigar lost some of its complexity and was average the rest of the way. I really wish the black pepper and minerality had stayed as a bigger player in the profile as that would have increased the enjoyment level. The price is fairly attractive, so it’s worth a try. I might come back to this on occasion.
Seth: The Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto is a lovely Connectict that has those classic qualities while available at a great price. Not overly complex, but enjoyable. Might be too mild for some. This would be a cigar I would smoke in the morning and afternoon. An easy Connecticut.
John: The Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto started out promising in the first third, with above average flavor combinations, but by the second third it settled into a fairly typical, but entirely serviceable Connecticut shade profile. The cigar went out once during the review, requiring a re-light, while the draw was perfect. I find the price on the Casa Magna Connecticut to be reasonable for the market, so based on that alone I might return to it. With that said, I wouldn’t actively seek these out because I don’t feel like it did enough to differentiate from the multitude of other Connecticut Shades on the market. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Jiunn: This was a cigar that I have a hard time getting behind. When I think of a typically (good) Connecticut shade, I’m expecting a baseline of soft flavors (cream, sweet, etc) with a layered spice that is never overwhelming. In the case of the Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto, I basically got the opposite of that; a cigar that is too heavy on earth and spice. This is a pass for me.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.00

Cost/Point

$1.57

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.35

Cost/Point

$1.48

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.90

Cost/Point

$1.59

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.65

Cost/Point

$1.66

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Casa Magna Connecticut Robusto