Cigar Review: Cornelius & Anthony Venganza Robusto

This new offering from Cornelius & Anthony (C&A) is a powerful, rich cigar that expands the company’s relationship with Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory in Nicaragua.

It also represents what is probably C&A’s strongest smoke to date, with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and filler and binder from Nicaragua. I found its power to be a notch up from the Daddy Mac, which also sports a Habano wrapper, that one from Brazil.

Venganza, Spanish for revenge, was released at this summer’s industry convention. It comes in four sizes. I smoked two samples of the Robusto (5 x 52) that were supplied by C&A. It lists for $9.25. All of the vitolas come in boxes of 20.

The pre-light aroma is mouthwatering and rich. But when I lit the first one, it was a bit sharp, especially in the initial third. That diminished a little going along, but I decided to give the second one more humidor time before I smoked it.

Wise decision. Even just a few weeks rest seemed to have smoothed out the rough edges. In fact, in the second smoke, the sharpness was replaced by a rich woodsiness in the opening.

Venganza, which sports the regular ornate C&A band and a secondary identifying one, is a fairly complex smoke. I picked up some pepper, cedar, and flavors of coffee and nuts along the way. The final third was marked by a tobacco sweetness.

And, while it is a strong smoke, it is by no means a barn-burner, nor is it likely to take the top of your head off.

Burn and smoke production were first-rate. The draw in each was excellent, and the white ash held firm until I tapped it off.

All in all, a very good cigar, and one I’d recommend. I rate Venganza four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys