H. Upmann Robusto (USE April 08)

[PADDYWHACK121272]

H. Upmann Robust from Travel Humidor / Case (USE April 08)

Out and about with some time to kill before a meeting so decided to give this stick a go. Apparently this size is only available as part of the recent travel humidor / case (released circa. 2008?). Supposed to be a ‘travel retail special’ – I picked on up in my local cigar store. Firstly, the travel humidor is a thing of great beauty consisting of a tan leather case embossed with the H.Upmann logo and containing a cedar block with individual spaces for 6 robusto sized smokes. A zipper compartment contains a humidification device. Beautiful bit of kit but doesn’t exactly fit into your jacket pocket – or any other pocket for that matter. Pricey, but if you are into your leather…

Construction: Ok, not the prettiest girl at the party, nice reddish wrapper but feels papery and dry to the touch. Light for the size but not spongy or underfilled.

Aroma at cold: Cedar, hint of spice and nice light tobacco.

Draw: Loose-ish, light cedar and tobacco.

Burn: Good, dark grey ash, good smoke volume.

45 min. smoke – quick for a robusto in my experience.

1/3 – Good quality tobacco, mild spice (black peppercorn), occasional hint of toast, not much else.

2/3 – As before, still occasional hints of toast and some coffee showing – hints at some complexity developing?

3/3 – Some strength building but overall a medium smoke, complexity never really develops but good quality tobacco flavour persists throughout with no bitterness or harshness.

Verdict:- Pleasant but one-dimensional smoke with no real complexity. Will leave these for a while but don’t hold out any great hopes for much further development. Suspect the blend was a bit unbalanced for this stick / batch (1st of 6). Would be a fine if un-memorable cigar over a few pints with mates but should be a better cigar to compliment the obvious quality that went into the humidor / case. 8.5 / 10.

[Colt45]

Thanks for the review and pics!

[thechenman]

Nice review, loved the pics. Definitely would have expected a better cigar given the presentation, but as the saying goes...you can't judge a book by its cover.

[android]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing.

[MontrealRon]

Nice review and pix!

Sounds like a typical young Upmann;

pleasant, bit rather reticent in flavour.

I'll bet a few years will bring these cigars out of their shells,

but really, a product like this should come with cigars that are good from the get-go.

Who buys a travel humidor to bury in their cellar for 5+ years?

[jacksfull]

Thanks for the well thought out review.

My question is this (to no one in particular): The travel humidor is still meant to be used after you've smoked the cigars, right? So, what do you re-fill it with after the included cigars are gone? I know there are a lot of other robustos, but given the H. Upmann branding on the case it seems their Connoisseur No.1 would be the only regular production H. Upmann that would come close to fitting (Connie #1 @ 48 x 127 versus Robusto @ 50 x 124).

[reg]

great looking cigar, nice pics

[Ellery]

Thanks for the review

[Van55]

Thanks for the well thought out review.

My question is this (to no one in particular): The travel humidor is still meant to be used after you've smoked the cigars, right? So, what do you re-fill it with after the included cigars are gone? I know there are a lot of other robustos, but given the H. Upmann branding on the case it seems their Connoisseur No.1 would be the only regular production H. Upmann that would come close to fitting (Connie #1 @ 48 x 127 versus Robusto @ 50 x 124).

As I said on another post, you could refill the case with any Robustos or Hermosos #2. Petit Coronas would fit lengthwise, I think, but would rattle around and possible be damaged in the individual holes in the cedar block.