Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra is medium brown and has some slightly raised veins present. The seams are a bit raised while the caps are well applied. There are two bands, with the primary over the top of the secondary and both carry a gold and black color combination. The primary denotes the company and line while the secondary has a repeating pattern of a circled diamond. The aroma from the wrapper is a light mix of cedar and earth while the foot brings a lightly sweet cedar. The pre-light draw is dusty earth and cedar.
Seth: The Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra has an opening aroma of leather, stone fruit, rich earth and sweet spices. Lovely aroma. Tobacco notes present are rich. Wrapper has a nice Colorado coloring with tooth and minor veins throughout. A slight bit of oils are present on the cigar. Firm in hand. Lovely cigar. Beautiful appearance.
John: The Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra didn’t come in cellophane and there was no UPC sticker. Since the Neutron had both, I can only assume that they must have been removed before I received it. The cigar is double banded with the Domain Negentropy band stacked on top of a larger band underneath. I weighed the cigar at 15.7 grams and the humidity was measured at 61.9% with the HumidiMeter Pro. For detectable aromas off the wrapper, I singled out tobacco, aged wood and mild hay. From the foot, I could smell hay and wood.

Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted oak and light amounts of earth and black pepper. At a quarter inch in, the oak is quite detailed. The retrohale is a mirror image of the mouth draws with toasted oak and light amounts of earth and black pepper. At an inch in, the earth picks up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is up front, earth in the middle and black pepper in the background. The strength was right at medium.
Seth: The first third opens up with some mineral and earth qualities paired with dry wood, tobacco and spice notes. Lots of pepper. Medium to medium-full in strength and body. It has that Nicaraguan and Ecuador wrapper profile.
John: The first third opens with sweet tobacco, musty wood in the center, and a combination of light spices and dry wood to finish and define the post draw. Chocolate comes into the retrohale as the spices intensify to medium strength. After the re-light, the retrohale is wood forward with a dry, wood and spice finish. Earth joins the finish moving towards the halfway point.

Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, some minerality joins the profile. The retrohale is now an even mix of toasted oak and earth with some light black pepper. At an inch in, the earth is now right behind the toasted oak. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is just ahead of the earth with some black pepper and minerality in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The second third balances out some. Earth and sweet spices. Some pepper present as well. Some cinnamon and coffee notes. Dry wood, tobacco and leather present. Medium to medium-full in strength and body.
John: In the second third, I’m greeted with earth and wood and a medium strength earthy finish. Graham cracker and dry wood are present on the retrohale. Chocolate moves into the center of the retrohale as the second third progresses towards the halfway point.

Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the toasted oak and earth are now even up front. The retrohale remains an even mix of toasted oak and earth with some light black pepper. At three quarters of an inch in, the toast level increases a bit. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted oak and earth are even up front, with black pepper and minerality in the background. The strength remained at medium.
Seth: The final third is the best third in the cigar. Cinnamon and pepper notes paired with some dry cocoa, earth and tobacco qualities. Bits of cocoa, leather and wood on the finish. Medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy wood opens the last third with a mild, dry wood and spice combination into the post draw. The dryness lingers between each puff. As the cigar continues, the profile is primarily wood forward. Earth joins the finish just before the halfway point. Some bitterness is present at times on the finish and post draw through the bottom half.

Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times and the cigar had a tunnel in the first third that caused the cigar to go out and required a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.
Seth: Burn was good from start to finish.
John: Unfortunately, I had significant burn issues with the burn wavy to start the first third requiring a touch-up. The cigar went out in the first third requiring a re-light. I could feel the burn stalling into the second third, where it went out requiring a re-light. The burn continued uneven, forming a canoe in the last third, requiring a touch-up to correct.

Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance I prefer.
Seth: Draw was great throughout.
John: The draw was perfect, right in the ideal range between open and resistant.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted oak and light amounts of earth and black pepper. The second third sees the earth increase and some minerality join the profile. The final third sees the earth become even with the toasted oak up front. The Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around toasted oak, earth, black pepper and minerality. The earth increased as the cigar went along, but other than that, the smoking experience was quite linear. This was a pretty average smoking experience, and not on par with the Neutron. I wouldn’t really see myself coming back to this cigar.
Seth: I would have smoked the final third three times. In fact, if I did, I would have loved the cigar. I want to come back to this Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra and give it some time to age and rest. I feel it is still young, but it has a nice Nicaraguan flavor profile, and the Ecuadorian wrapper does well on the cigar. It’s a nice blend that delivers solid flavors from start to finish. That final third was so nice.
John: The Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra had a promising start with engaging combinations of tobacco, musty wood, balanced spices, earth and chocolate. The profile flattened out moving into the second third and as it progressed into the last third was fairly simple in delivery. The draw was perfect while the burn struggled and required two re-lights and two touch-ups. Any time you have a re-light on a cigar, I’ve found the flavor profile will be impacted. As there were two re-lights, I don’t doubt it impacted the profile at least in the second third. I would be inclined to give the Domain Negentropy another try as the Neutron was a significant stand out for the 2024 cigar releases. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 5 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.55

Cost/Point

$2.07

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$2.00

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.70

Cost/Point

$2.02

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Domain Negentropy Robusto Extra