Guest Quick Smoke: Macanudo Robust Portifino

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief take on a single cigar. The following is a Guest Quick Smoke, submitted by a StogieGuys.com reader. If you’d like to submit your own for publication, please contact us.

A long, slim cigar (7 x 34) comes out from a cedar-lined green tube. The rough Connecticut shade wrapper may be an ugly sight for smokers who are used to paying $5 per stick, which is about what this stogie retails for. The prelight smells of cocoa and cedar, and its band slips out easy. Upon lighting, the initial draw reminds me of a Don Diego Baby—mild, firm white ash, and not a whole lot of smoke. Towards the second third, the ash turns into salt and pepper, and the flavor becomes a bit stronger, akin to Cohiba Pequeno Miniatures. By the last third, it kicks to full body with billows of smoke. All throughout, the smoke is cool down to the nub, perhaps due to the moderately tight draw.

Verdict = Buy.

-Submitted by Rob Castro of Chino Hills, CA