Stogie Reviews: Perdomo Habano Maduro Robusto
21 Jan 2009
It wasn’t until I picked up one of these dark, oily sticks that I realized how long it had been since I smoked a maduro. A few years ago, it seemed at least two of every three cigars I lit were maduros.
Maybe all those spicy Pepins and mellow Cameroons I’ve been enjoying have just crowded out most of the rest of the field. If so, I need to reconsider. This maduro reminded me how good they can be.
At five inches and a fat 52 ring gauge, the thick wrapper and a mix of Nicaraguan fillers creates a complex, satisfying smoke. At first, there’s a bit of pepper, but that tends to fade fairly soon, setting up the palate for the taste array to follow. You’ll notice the cocoa and coffee common to maduros, and you’ll also find some wood, leather and nuts. Back in 2007, a guest reviewer did a Quick Smoke on the Toro and was equally enthusiastic, rating it a “Buy.â€
I’ve found construction on all the Robustos I’ve smoked to be excellent: good draw, fine burn, lots of smoke, and an extremely tight ash. Another plus is the price, as low as under $4 per stick for a box of 20. About the only complaints I had with the cigar were that the finish can be a bit dry and the two huge bands are overkill.
On the other hand, I did find the Perdomo website less than useful. It’s set up to provide information in PDF files, and every one I downloaded was blank. Maybe that has something to do with my system (a Mac), or maybe it was a temporary glitch. Whatever the reason, it was annoying not to be able to get authoritative information about the cigar easily from Perdomo.
Then again, it’s cigars we smoke, not bits and bytes. And for that the Perdomo Habano Maduro Robusto deserves four stogies out of five.
[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. Cigars for this review were provided by Cigars Direct. You can purchase Perdomo cigars from Cigars Direct here.]
photo credit: Stogie Guys
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
Nice review George. I gotta give this guy a try. How would you compare it to the CAO Brazilia? Does it even compare?
Great review George. I usually like smaller ring cigars, but this one is amazing in the Presidente size. I also found the bands kind of cool…they're very ornate, and seem to compliment the smoke, instead of detract from it IMO. The Perdomo Habano Corojo and Connecticut are also both really good!
Danny – I've smoked a few Brazilias, though nowhere near enough to be an expert on them. To me, the Brazilia is a stronger and spicier cigar.
George, I love this smoke. Nice review.
One of my favorite smokes of the last year. Great flavor and construction, great price. I haven’t found the dryness you did on the maduro, but in the Connecticut and Corojo versions it is there in spades.
I agree with the band being overly large, at least on the robusto. It is beautiful though. Ornate and understated at the same time.
These are great smokes. They are some of my favorite. I just got some of the naturals to try now also.
Ben Lee – Let us know what you think of those naturals.
Very tasty, George. Not too much sweetness like a typical maduro. Oh, by the way, I am getting my hands on a special box of claro HDM Epicure No. 2's next month. I will submit a review once I smoke one. They aren't quite double claro, but have been described to me as "claro on the green side".
These sticks are absolutely wonderful. This review hit all the right points.
ЖеÑÑ‚ÑŒ! Ðет ну правда, проÑто Ñлов нету! 🙂
Just lit one of these up last night for the first time. Super Good! I'm still kind of a cigar rookie, so the only problem I had with it was that I tried to smoke it too fast at first! I couldn't stop! But it self corrected and I smoked it down to the nub. I will definately be buying more of these!
J – Glad you enjoyed it.