Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto is light brown and has a couple of decently raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is a combination of colors and has the company and line names on the front with the sub-line on the back. The aroma from the wrapper was a mix of cedar, hay and light earth while the foot brings cedar, graham cracker and some stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw brings floral notes and some cedar.
Seth: The Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto is solid in appearance. The band’s colors actually help the wrapper. Faded Colorado wrapper with small to medium sized veins throughout. Firm in hand, the cigar has a silky texture. Aromas of raisins, tobacco and earth. Some creamy cedar qualities as well.
John: The Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto comes in cellophane, along with a UPC sticker that has an integrated tear space so it remains intact when opened. There is a single band with a colorful, artistic background and Cavalier Tres Delincuentes in white. Aromas from the wrapper included sweet honey, clover, tobacco and hay. From the foot, I was also getting sweet clover, along with tobacco.
Jiunn: The Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto reveals an even oily Colorado wrapper shade. Veins are well pressed, seams tight, bunch and roll even and the head is well wrapped and capped. Aromas from the wrapper give faint dried nuttiness. Aromas from the foot tell black pepper spice, hay and cedar. Cold draws reveal subtle hay and nuttiness.

Team Cigar Review: Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted cedar up front and light amounts of earth, cinnamon and floral notes. At a quarter inch in, the earth picks up a bit and the cinnamon transitions to black pepper. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch in, a light chalky candy sweetness becomes present. At an inch and a quarter, the black pepper is in the middle of the profile. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted cedar up front with earth and black pepper in the middle and light amounts of chalky candy sweetness and floral notes in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
Seth: The first third starts out with some hay and tobacco notes. Some herbal spice qualities as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: My initial flavor impressions are spices and wood, followed by bread and a lingering tannic wood into the post draw. There is a delayed medium strength white pepper and bread in the post draw. The profile settles into just under medium strength as it marches towards the halfway point. Some dry wood enters the post draw in the bottom half.
Jiunn: The first third has softer flavors. Buttered toast, honey, vanilla, cedar and low heat red pepper spice. Retrohaling provides greater dried red pepper spice and cedar. The finish is on the shorter end with lingering buttered toast. Strength and body is medium.

Team Cigar Review: Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the chalkiness loses the candy sweetness and the black pepper mellows a bit. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, earth and light amounts of black pepper and chalkiness. At an inch in, the floral notes pick up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the profile is toasted cedar up front with earth and black pepper in the middle and floral notes and chalkiness in the background. The strength remained at slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third was fairly similar to that of the first. The herbal spices are less herbally, and more sweet which is a nice change. Still picking up hay and tobacco notes. Some faded earth as well. Medium in strength and body.
John: Spices and bread lead off with a wood center and dry wood to finish. Sweet bread leads the retrohale with a spice and wood combination in the center. Hay comes through at the end of the draw as the cigar approaches the halfway point.
Jiunn: The second third’s flavor profile is overall intact. Slightly more dried red pepper spice shows up on the mouth draws and finish, but there still are plenty of softer flavors of buttered toast, honey and vanilla. Strength and body remains medium.

Team Cigar Review: Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the toast level increases a bit. At a quarter inch in, the cedar takes on a decent char. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and earth. As the cigar wraps up, the profile is lightly charred cedar up front with earth in the middle, and black pepper, chalkiness and floral notes in the background. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: The final third is nearly identical to the second. Nice sweet herbal spices, tobacco, hay and earth. Medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood takes the cigar into the last third. A mildly, dry, tannic wood is present through the finish and in the post draw. Once it has settled in, some medium strength hay also joins the post draw. That tannic wood moves up in intensity to match the hay and is lingering between draws. As the cigar moves to the halfway point, mild spices are present in the center of the profile. Bread and spices return to the retrohale in the bottom half.
Jiunn: The final third’s flavor profile decreases in complexities and enjoyment. The flavors now mainly consist of cedar and dried red pepper spice. Strength and body finish the same medium.

Team Cigar Review: Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a mess as the cigar required a touch-up in the first third and then five re-lights from the second third on.
Seth: Burn was not great. I had to re-light and it burned unevenly.
John: The burn was straight in the first third but spontaneously went out in the first half of the first third, requiring a re-light. The burn was uneven in the second third, eventually requiring a touch-up. The burn was uneven in the last third, requiring a second touch-up.
Jiunn: Amazing burn performance. Even burn, tight ashes, cool burning temperature and ample smoke production.

Team Cigar Review: Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but I don’t think contributed to the burn issues.
Seth: Solid draw. A little loose for my liking.
John: The draw was roughly one notch towards the open spectrum, which still puts it in the range for an ideal draw.
Jiunn: Amazing draw performance as well, giving the best balance of air flow and resistance.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted cedar up front and light amounts of earth, cinnamon and floral notes. The cinnamon transitioned to black pepper fairly quickly. A light chalky candy sweetness joined a bit later. The second third saw the chalkiness lose the candy sweetness. The final third saw the cedar gain some char. The burn was a problem, requiring five re-lights. Overall, the Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto had a nice flavor profile through the first two thirds, dropping a level in the final third. The burn really let the cigar down and I’m hoping the others had better construction which may show how good this cigar can be. I’d be up for coming back to this to see if a better burning sample could keep the good flavor profile going through the final third. The cigar has a very attractive price point, so if construction isn’t a wide issue, this could be a winner. I’m interested in trying the other versions of the line.
Seth: The Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto was a solid cigar at a great price. It’s not a cigar I would come back to, and I am not interested in smoking the other wrapper offerings, but it was definitely a solid smoke for the price. The packaging helps make the cigar appealing, and I think that will be the retailer’s best bet. If you are looking for a budget friendly cigar, this is a nice option.
John: The Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto had a promising start in the first third, and part of the second third with some interesting flavor combinations. By the halfway point of the second third, the profile was still pleasant but lacked much of the dynamic combinations that had been present to that point. The burn had some issues with a re-light and two touch-ups through the review, while the draw was perfect. While the overall flavor delivery put it slightly above average for me, the price point is extremely attractive and makes it likely that I would return to this in the future to see if my experience was consistent. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Jiunn: $6.95 MSRP per cigar for the Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto. Let that soak in. In 2023, there is a cigar that is $6.95 that beats the majority of $15 plus priced cigars. Not just beat, but demolish. Watch out Illusione Rothchild, there’s a new kid in town.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.70

Cost/Point

$1.22

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.50

Cost/Point

$1.26

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.80

Cost/Point

$1.20

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

6.82

Cost/Point

$1.02

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Cavalier Genève Tres Delincuentes Habano Robusto