Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Macanudo Emissary France Robusto is a marbled medium brown with some raised veins and a network of fine veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. There are two bands, with the primary being gold and navy blue and denoting the brand and line. The secondary band is navy blue and gold and denotes the sub-line. The aroma from the wrapper is rich earth, bakers chocolate and some light wood. The foot brings graham cracker and some cedar. The pre-light draw is an airy mix of cedar and earth.
John: The Macanudo Emissary France Robusto comes in cellophane and does not have a UPC sticker. It features a primary Macanudo Emissary band and a distinctive France foot band, cut out in the shape of the eastern French border with Switzerland. I weighed the cigar at 15.5 grams and measured the humidity at 66.2% using the CigarMedics HumidiMeter Pro. From the wrapper, I picked up aromas of musty, sweet wood with a note reminiscent of a rackhouse. From the foot, the aromas leaned into wood and hay.

Macanudo Emissary France Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with a slightly stale mix of toasted cedar and earth along with some black pepper. At a half inch in, a light chalkiness joins the profile. The retrohale is toasted cedar, earth and mildly zingy black pepper. At an inch in, the toast level increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with both being a bit stale and the black pepper is in the middle of the profile with some chalkiness in the background. The strength was right at medium.
John: The cigar opens with sweet tobacco and mild earth, with wood in the center, earth on the finish and delayed baking spices on the post draw. The retrohale delivers a combination of chocolate and earthy wood. As the third progresses, the wood fades into the background, and bread quietly joins the sweet tobacco as the cigar approaches the halfway point.

Macanudo Emissary France Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the staleness of the toasted cedar and earth departs. At a half inch in, the black pepper mellows a bit. The retrohale is now a musty mix of toasted cedar, earth and lightly zingy black pepper. At an inch and a quarter, the black pepper picks back up. At an inch and a half in, the black pepper is now right behind the earth and the toast level is now pretty heavy. As the third comes to a close, the heavily toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth with black pepper right behind and some chalkiness in the background. The strength remained at medium.
John: The second third starts with creamy bread, tobacco and tannic wood, all combining in the draw. Dry tannic wood finishes into the post draw, lingering between each puff. Earth moves up to medium, almost medium-plus strength in the post draw before easing back to light-plus strength through the bottom half.

Macanudo Emissary France Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, a vegetal mintiness joins the profile. At a half inch in, the pepper mellows a bit. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and some vegetal mintiness. As the cigar wraps up, the heavily toasted cedar is just ahead of the earth, with black pepper just ahead of the middle of the profile and some vegetal mintiness and chalkiness in the back half of the profile. The strength remained at medium.
John: The final third opens with a combination of creamy wood and bread, followed by mildly tannic wood on the finish. Chocolate reappears in the retrohale as the third settles in. By the halfway point, earth and tannic wood intensify again, reaching medium strength and carrying the cigar to its conclusion.

Macanudo Emissary France Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy at times, but never needed any attention. The ash held on in inch and a half increments.
John: The burn exhibited minor waviness in the first third, became lopsided in the second third requiring a touch-up, and then corrected itself and remained even through the final third.

Macanudo Emissary France Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was a bit tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.
John: Measured at 68 inches of water with the CigarMedics Draw Machine. Subjectively, the draw began at 3½ to 4 notches into the resistant spectrum, opening up slightly to 2½ to 3 notches as the cigar progressed through the first third.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with a slightly stale mix of toasted cedar and earth along with some black pepper. A light chalkiness joined in fairly quickly. The second third saw the staleness drop out. The black pepper mellowed a bit and then ramped up a bit later. The final third saw some vegetal mintiness join in and the black pepper mellow a bit. The Macanudo Emissary France Robusto had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around toasted cedar and earth. The supporting notes of black pepper, chalkiness and vegetal mintiness didn’t do anything to elevate the profile. This cigar was pretty on par flavor-wise with the Espana version and I wouldn’t see myself coming back to it.
John: The Macanudo Emissary France Robusto offers a visually distinctive presentation and a well-behaved construction, backed by a very good burn and a moderately firm draw that eased up with time. The flavor profile began with sweet tobacco, earth and delayed baking spices, and the chocolate retrohale added a pleasant richness early on. However, the flavor complexity leveled off in the second and final thirds, settling into a more earthy, tannic profile that was pleasant but not dynamic. Overall, it’s a solid offering with a balanced start and a consistent, if subdued, finish, ideal for those who appreciate a measured evolution and traditional earth-forward flavors. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 43 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.50

Cost/Point

$2.73

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

5.70

Cost/Point

$2.63

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Macanudo Emissary France Robusto