Cigar Review: Cornelius & Anthony Aerial Robusto

If your idea of a Connecticut cigar is an Altadis Montecristo or an Ashton Classic, this new offering from Cornelius & Anthony should be on your give-it-a-try list.

While there is a bit of the typical grassy Connecticut (though this wrapper is from Ecuador rather than New England) aroma on the pre-light, the first few puffs are bursting with spice and a strong finish. By the start of the second third, the spice has backed off and tobacco sweetness moves to the fore. In the final third, the spice amps up again, mingling with leather and a light earthiness.

Strength is firmly in the mid-level area. I smoked two for this review and each performed flawlessly, producing lots of thick smoke.

The Robusto (5 x 52) has a suggested price of $9.25 and is one of four sizes in the new line. The others are Gordo (6 x 60, $10.75), Toro (6 x 50, $9.75), and Corona Gorda (5.5 x 46, $8.75). All are made at Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

The filler is Nicaraguan, while the only identification for the binder is that it is grown in the U.S.

Aerial is presented similarly to other Cornelius & Anthony cigars: a relatively large, ornate band identifying the company with a plain secondary band specifying the line. Also familiar in the packaging is the woodcut-style illustration—this one a hot air balloon that looks like it escaped from a Jules Verne tale.

I was curious about the name, and reached out to Cornelius & Anthony director of brand development, Courtney Smith. She said it began with “some beautiful aerial photos” she discovered in the company archive.

“The family has been growing tobacco on the same land in Keysville, Virginia, since the 1860s… and the photos were so interesting and informative, because they were a visual of the expanse of their property,” she wrote in an email. “As we talked about the land and the land’s history, the name and concept organically grew from there.”

Aerial was introduced at the summertime IPCPR Trade Show and began shipping recently. So far, it’s my favorite new release of 2017 and becomes my first five-stogie cigar this year.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five-stogie rated cigars can be found here.]

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys