Stogie Reviews: La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Robusto

With little fanfare, Ashton cigars released La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor at this year’s industry trade show in August. The five-vitola line is the third La Aroma de Cuba blend in Ashton’s portfolio.

La Aroma has undergone quite the transformation in the past few years when Ashton handed the brand over to Don Pepin Garcia. The original Honduran recipe (which was made by Altadis) was re-incarnated as a Nicaraguan blend with a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, and a new Edición Especial was added, featuring an Ecuadorian wrapper.

The new Mi Amor uses a dark Mexican San Andreas wrapper along with Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The box-pressed line sells for $150-$180 per box of 25, or $6-8 as a single. The  Robusto (5 x 50) costs a reasonable $5.

To introduce the new Mi Amor blend, Ashton is conducting a series of tastings at cigar shops. These events feature almonds, coconut, dark chocolate, and Zaya rum, which are tasted in progression to bring out the flavors of the cigar. I was fortunate enough to participate in such a tasting at a local shop and would definitely recommend the event as an excellent way to sample the Mi Amor while developing your palate.

Not surprisingly, many of the flavors featured in the tasting are found in the cigar. Most prominent are coffee and roasted earth. But there’s a also bit of dry bittersweet chocolate and a hint of nuttiness.

The Robusto creates plenty of dense smoke that leaves the cigar’s profile lingering on your palate. There’s not much variation in taste as the cigar progresses, although the roasted flavors seem to pick up towards the end.

The Mi Amor is solidly medium- to full-bodied throughout. Construction is excellent, with the box-pressed smoke burning evenly while producing a solid, stable ash.

Over a year ago, I remember hearing that Don Pepin Garcia was very excited about the wrappers being grown in the San Andreas region of Mexico. This new La Aroma is proof that that his excitement was well-founded. The resulting blend earns the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor Robusto four stogies out of five.

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–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys