Pre-light Experience

Aaron: The wrapper on the Tatiana Delights Robusto is a dull, light brown and has a network of lightly raised veins. The seams are smooth and the caps well applied. The band is gold, purple, white and black and denotes the brand name and line. The aroma from the wrapper is a light construction paper while the foot brings more construction paper along with some stone fruit sweetness. The pre-light draw brings a mellow mix of cedar and earth along with a decent level of added sweetness that comes from the cap.
Seth: The Tatiana Delights Robusto is an average looking cigar. There is a faint aroma across the whole cigar of cedar, hay and tobacco, with some earth on the foot. There is a sweetness to the cap that is present on the cold draw. Smooth and silky in texture, the cigar has a Natural coloring with minor veins throughout. Firm in hand.
John: The Tatiana Delights Robusto came in cellophane and had a UPC sticker with the cigar information which tore when opened. I weighed the cigar at 13.7 grams and measured the humidity at 66.9% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper were sweet tobacco and wood. From the foot, I detected hay and wood.

Tatiana Delights Robusto

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with some burning paper, cedar and light earth along with some added sweetness coming from the cap. At three quarters of an inch in, the burning paper note is now more of just construction paper without the burning component. The retrohale is cedar, construction paper and light earth. At an inch in, a mild black pepper joins the profile. At an inch and a quarter, the earth has picked up a bit. As the third comes to a close, the construction paper with a bit of a burning note is in front, just ahead of the cedar, with some earth in the middle of the profile and light black pepper in the background. There are still hints of added sweetness from the cap. The strength was mild-medium.
Seth: The draw has that sweetness on the cap, but it quickly fades and I am left with this flat profile of tobacco, earth, cedar and hay. Just under medium in strength and body.
John: The first third begins with creamy wood, hay and a syrupy finish from the sweet cap. A dry hay and wood settle into the post draw. The sweet cap sweetness fades somewhat as the first third progresses.

Tatiana Delights Robusto

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the cedar gains a toast note. At a half inch in, the toasted cedar and lightly burning construction paper are now even up front. The retrohale is now toasted cedar, construction paper and earth. As the third comes to a close, the toasted cedar and lightly burning construction paper are even up front, with the earth a bit behind and some light black pepper in the background. There is still a faint sweetness on random draws from the cap. The strength bumped up to slightly below medium.
Seth: The second third does not show any sweetness, but continues to deliver the profile from the first. There is not much going on with the cigar. Just under medium in strength and body, profile is of cedar, hay and earth.
John: Creamy wood is the initial impression here with an underpinning of sweet cap as a mildly bitter wood finishes. That bitter wood begins to linger between each puff. Some light plus baking spices move into the center of the retrohale as it continues. The bitterness moves up to medium strength through the finish as it approaches the halfway point.

Tatiana Delights Robusto

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth increases to become even with the toasted cedar and construction paper. The retrohale is now just toasted cedar and earth. At an inch in, the black pepper picks up a bit. As the cigar wraps up, the toasted cedar, construction paper and earth are even up front, with the black pepper in the middle of the profile. The was no added sweetness from the cap detectable in this third. The strength bumped up to medium.
Seth: There was nothing going on in the final third. Really lacking. Just under medium in strength and body.
John: Creamy, bitter wood starts things off as bitter wood teams up with hay on the finish to linger. Hints of sweet cap are still present as the cigar continues. The post draw bitterness moves up to medium, almost medium-full by the halfway point.

Tatiana Delights Robusto

Burn

Aaron: The burn was straight throughout and the ash held on in inch and a half increments.
Seth: Good burn throughout.
John: The burn started out straight and went out in the second third requiring a re-light. The cigar went out again shortly afterwards, requiring another re-light. The cigar went out in the last third requiring a re-light.

Tatiana Delights Robusto

Draw

Aaron: The draw was perfect, with just the right amount of resistance that I prefer.
Seth: Good draw throughout.
John: The draw was at most one notch towards the resistant spectrum which puts it in the ideal range between open and resistant for an amazing draw score.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with some burning paper, cedar and light earth along with some added sweetness coming from the cap. The burning paper transitioned to construction paper fairly quickly. Some light black pepper joined in a bit later. The second third saw the cedar gain a toast note and it became even with the construction paper up front. The final third saw the earth become even with the construction paper and toasted cedar up front and the black pepper picked up. Construction was absolutely perfect. The Tatiana Delights Robusto had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around the construction paper, toasted cedar and earth. The added sweetness on the cap wasn’t really that prominent and had faded out by the end of the second third. This is a fine option for new or infrequent smokers. I don’t think it does enough to attract regular, traditional smokers and I wouldn’t see myself coming back to it.
Seth: I got nothing out of the Tatiana Delights Robusto. No sweetness throughout, or anything memorable. Affordable cigar, but spend some more money and get something of quality and substance. The sweetness faded away so fast too, that I was irritated because I think that was all that was going on for a short period of time.
John: The initial impression of the Tatiana Delights Robusto was relatively flat, albeit pleasant. As the cigar continued into the second third, it became increasingly bitter which continued for the remainder of the review and resulted in a challenging review to complete. The draw was perfect, while the burn struggled, requiring three re-lights. I think it’s quite clear that the Tatiana Delights Robusto is targeting a value segment, and does deliver a premium cigar band and presentation. Unfortunately, the flavor profile was unpleasant for the majority of the review, something the sweet cap couldn’t overcome. This is not something I would return to and I would be hard pressed to suggest this cigar even to a budget smoker. Total smoking time was 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.75

Cost/Point

$1.39

Scoring System

Seth Geise

SCORE

4.88

Cost/Point

$1.64

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

4.28

Cost/Point

$1.87

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Tatiana Delights Robusto