Stogie Reviews: Isla de Cuba Aged Maduro Robusto

Last month I was fortunate enough to be one of the first to review the Isla de Cuba Classic Belicoso. I found it to be an excellent smoke with a delicious flavor profile and an all-around quality feel. Today I examine the other line from the new Tampa-based boutique manufacturer: Aged Maduro.

Like the Classic blend, Isla offers its Aged Maduro cigars in five traditional vitolas – Corona, Robusto, Toro, Belicoso, and Churchill. Both lines first hit retailers after the company launched in February to bring old Havana favorites back to the U.S. market. President Darryl Lieser was nice enough to participate in our Cigar Insider series on May 5, and he’s reportedly working hard to build the brand’s credibility and get Isla’s blends noticed by retailers across the nation.

With a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper, a broadleaf binder, and proprietary filler tobaccos from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, Aged Maduro is clearly the heavier of the two lines. The Robusto measures five inches with a 52 ring gauge and boasts the same quality feel I noticed in the Classic: firm to the touch yet clear in draw. The dark, almost seamless wrapper is dry and a bit granulated.

Isla’s promotional materials say the Aged Maduro cigars are bold with “subtle notes of rich sweetness.” Based on my experience with two Robustos, I’d have to agree. Given its prelight aroma, the smoke starts just as you’d expect with a black pepper spice, some cashew creaminess, and a typical maduro sweetness. I find the whole effect to be akin to the taste of rich espresso. Clove and cocoa bean flavors kick in at the halfway mark, and the smoke remains full-flavored, but never harsh, until the nub.

To the cigar’s credit, its physical properties resemble those of the Classic Belicoso. The burn is either very straight or self-correcting, the foot stays lit when left unattended, the draw is true, and the white ash is solid and strong.

I am impressed with this blend and the brand as a whole, and I think pessimists who question Isla’s prices will be pleasantly surprised. With a price tag of $146.25 per box of 25 at JR, the Aged Maduro Robusto may not be the very best value in all of cigardom, but it’s certainly a damn good one. I give it a well-deserved four out of five stogies.

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–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys