Isla de Cuba 376 Robusto Extra Review

[JbGilmore]

Wrapper: San Andres Morron
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia
Shape: Panatela
Size : 5 1/2"
Ring : 50
Hand-Made
Price : About $6/stick


Ok so to start off, I've been hearing more and more about this cigar lately so I decided to pick up a few. Without boring you too much, the 376 piece of the name has to do with the owner of the company. Apparently he turned down 376 OTHER blends before finally settling on this specific blend, which was meant to be reminiscent of the old 56' Montecristo No 3. The cigar I reviewed sat in the humidor for about 2 months...I know, but hey...I got anxious.




Appearance:
The cigar itself says power. With the inclusion of the 376, box pressed cigars are starting to grow on me more. Ergonomically I like how they fit in the hand more than I do regular cigars. The wrapper is an oily, dark, toothy Mexican grown leaf that's reminiscent of a Padron Anniversary. I would almost say I enjoy the wrapper on the 376 more than I do on the Padron however. The stick I sampled was pretty firm, I was almost worried about how the draw would play out because it was so firm.




Construction:
Like I said earlier, the cigar itself is chock full of tobacco. This coupled with the fact that it's box pressed makes this a solid stick. You can see some small veins on the wrapper but if you were to close your eyes and hold this cigar, you would not be able to feel them. The 376 is definitely a stick that could take a beating in a golf bag and still be waiting for you, like new, after you triple bogey the last hole.




Taste:
I'm only giving the 376 a 3 on taste because of it's simplicity, and take it for what you will because maybe I read it wrong. As for flavor profile..2 words: Wood and Leather. There were maybe some sweet(er) spots throughout but for the majority it was those 2 flavors. There was however a ton of spice in the first few draws that was almost overwhelming. After a few puffs the cigar started to fall into it's own. I don't know how to explain the flavor profile on how this stick played out so I created a little diagram to show you.





The beginning was very simple and very leathery. It reminded me of a slightly harsher Padron Anniversary. Then came a wave of woodsy tones, which I enjoyed very much. After about 10-15 minutes or so, this changed yet again back to the leathery notes of the beginning draws. After about 30 minutes the cigar began to mesh together and it seemed as if every other puff swapped back and forth between a heavy leathery taste and the creamy woody taste I enjoyed so much. This continued for the next 30 minutes of the cigar. It became so apparent that I began trying to guess what the next puff was going to be. Overall I really did enjoy the taste of the cigar, but as far as complexity goes I didn't get much out of it.




Value:
For the $5.95 I paid for this cigar, I would definitely pick up more. I would love to see what some proper aging does for this stick. I know many of you out there will disagree that $6 is a value but to each his own. A good friend of mine once said, "smoke less but smoke the best", and I tend to agree so $6 isn't all that expensive in my mind. In reality, I could see with some proper aging time this cigar being pretty darn close to some fresh Padron Anniversaries.




Overall:
Truthfully I really enjoyed this cigar. The burn was dead straight the entire time. The taste was simple but good. The smoke was full, creamy, and not harsh. It took me roughly a little over an hour to complete, all of which gave me time to finish a glass of rum and witness two shooting stars. I'd say it ended up being a pretty good cigar and a pretty good night.




~JBG

[Yitlin]

I don't know if you've done reviews on this site before or not, but I'm gonna be keeping an eye out for your future entries. That is a damn fine review, great organization and the taste chart is a great idea. I'm gonna have to track down one of these and give it a go. Great review!

[gary106334]

Excellent review.

[NCRadioMan]

I reviewed the toro here http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...91#post1875991

I found these to be very floral.