Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a very deep dark brown, almost black. There are a couple of small veins visible just due to how it makes the wrapper looks textured. The seams are pretty well invisible with the uniform dark brown. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like two well applied caps. The band has a reddish-copper background with white borders and some gold and white lettering and artwork. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of chocolate and barnyard while the foot gives a faint, sweet wood. The pre-light draws brings more of the sweet wood that I got from the foot aroma.

Pre-light Experience

The Dunhill Aged Maduro Short Robusto sports a jet black maduro, border-lining oscuro, shade wrapper. There’s good oil content on the wrapper and the wrapper feels thick and sturdy. Veins are well pressed and seams tight. The triple capped head is well applied. Nosing the wrapper tells spicy cedar and hay. Nosing the foot reveals white pepper, rich nuttiness and aged oak. Cold draw tells mainly aged oak and cardboard.

First Third

Initial draws bring a mix of chocolate, wood and baking spice. After a few draws, the chocolate fades away and the baking spice transforms into a dull pepper with the wood remaining. The retrohale carries a mix of chocolate and wood. At a half inch in, the chocolate comes back to mix with the wood while the pepper is very faint in the background. At an inch in, the chocolate retreats and leaves the woodiness which is now slightly drying. The strength in this third was just below medium.

First Third

First third shows namely dark earthy tones. Notes of bitter and chalky earth, dry nuts, dark cocoa, wooded bitterness, charred oak and under-stated black pepper. There’s a semi-sweet cream but it’s covered up quite a bit by the bitter and charred notes. Through retrohaling, notes of fierce black pepper and sharp oak. The finish is long and lasting with overwhelming wood bitterness and charred oak caking the entire palate. Strength is medium full and body somewhere in between medium and medium-full.

Second Third

As this third begins, the profile is wood, which isn’t as drying now and has a slight baking spice component in the background. At a quarter inch in, a slight bit of cream joins the woodiness. The retrohale is a slightly bitter wood note. At a half inch in, some pepper peeks back in to mix with the slightly creamy wood. The retrohale is now creamy wood while the bitterness has left. As the third comes to a close, the cream leaves and some bitterness joins the wood. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Second Third

The second third continues with the same dark and earthy notes of mainly wood bitterness, charred oak, dark cocoa and subtle black pepper. The retrohale’s pepper has died down but still a strong factor. The sharp oak is still there and a cream note is picked up, balancing out some of the pepper and sharpness. The finish remains unchanged, still providing palate engulfing wood bitterness and charred oak. Strength is still medium full and body still in between medium and medium-full.

Final Third

As this third begins, the bitter wood continues. The retrohale is a slightly creamy and dirty oak. At a half inch in, the cigar heats up a bit and interestingly enough, the bitterness decreases while a bit of mintiness joins with the wood. The retrohale is now a very creamy oak. As the cigar comes to a close, the mintiness goes away as the heat subsides and leaves a lone oak note. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

The first half of the last third mimics the second third in every way (mouth draw flavors, retrohale flavors, finish, etc). The last half of the last third is where the cigar takes a major dive. The once charred oak and wooded bitterness mixing somewhat well with the other notes are now dominating factors, casting over the other notes. This is especially realized on the finish, where the palate is heavy with char and bitterness.

Burn

The burn was razor sharp the entire way. The ash held on for two and a half inches and then held on again until the cigar finished.

Burn

The burn was perfect for this short robusto. Nice, tight white ashes with no flowering having self tapped ashes averaging 1.5 inch marks. Burn line was razor sharp, never needing to revisit my lighter. Total smoking time was a great 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Draw

The draw had just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.

Overall

The first third had a nice flavor combination including chocolate and then settled into a primarily woody profile. Strength was right around medium the entire way. This is a cigar that I would actually like to try in a longer vitola to see if the flavors have more time to build and transition. Unfortunately, Dunhill seems to be getting out of the cigar game, so these may not be around much longer, so I would recommend grabbing one to see if it fits your profile.

Draw

Draw was perfect as well. Cutting the cap within the last strand of the cap yielded the ideal draw.

Overall

The Dunhill Aged Maduro Short Robusto was an overall average smoking experience. A plethora of dark and earthy tones with char and bitterness wraps up the flavor profile. I would have enjoyed sweetness and more cream to balance out the dark earth and medium-full strength. The best part of the cigar was perhaps the flawless construction.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

6.33

Cost/Point

$1.65

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.67

Cost/Point

$1.84

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Dunhill Aged Maduro Short Robusto