Sam Leccia Black Robusto

Not only am I a cigar enthusiast, but I have been smoking pipes for thirty plus year as well. When I heard about this Sam Leccia Black containing a fired cured leaf I was quite excited to try it since I already know what dimensions fired cured can add to pipe tobacco. It took me a while to chase a few of these down, but once I did I knew it was worth the effort! Normally when I smoke a cigar the flavor nuances jump right out, but not with this cigar. I had to smoke several of these Blacks before I could sort out the flavors and I am still not sure how good of a job I did. What I do know though; this in one fine tasting cigar no mater what the flavors you find. Let see what I did come up with...

Quick Details

• Cigar Size: 5 x 52 Robusto
• Wrapper:  Ecuadorian Habano
• Binder: Nicaraguan Rosado
• Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican, Brazilian , fire roasted Kentucky Dark Fire

Right from the cellophane I could tell this was a completely different cigar than I was used to smoking. Construction of this cigar is superb, the habano wrapper is above average, it was smooth and contained only the finest of veins. I put the cigar to my nose and was pleased to fined a nice sweet aroma that reminded me of smoke, nuts and toast. Feeling the cigar body I was surprised to find that it was firm to the touch and made me think that perhaps it was packed to tightly and the draw might be tight. Well, I was wrong. Once the end was clipped I tested the draw and it was just about perfect. While testing the draw I found the same flavor mix as the cold aroma. Another thing about the cold draw that intrigued me was the sweet aftertaste that lingered for a minute or two. The cold draw was so tasty I had to test it a few more times before putting a match to the foot.

Two wooden matches were used toasting the foot and lighting the cigar. Once it was going I was rewarded with a mouth full of toasty, nutty, full bodied smoke. On the second draw I could taste just a hint of black pepper and an underlying tartness below the toast and nuts. Through the first third hints of earth and oak appeared and disappeared at times. Around the mid point I could taste a bit of tree fruit and the overall sweetness of the cigar seemed to be building. In the final third, hints of sweet cream and tobacco entered into the gamut of flavors already present giving this cigar a very pleasant finish.

Construction wise, this cigar was top notch. The burn was even the entire length and the grey mottled ash held until the halfway point. The farther the burn progressed the more oil appeared on the wrapper.

Overall I don't know what else to say about the Sam Leccia Black Robusto other than it has a great flavor profile, great construction and burn. I believe the presence of the fired cured leaf in this cigar gives it flavor characteristics normally not found in a cigar. This stick will defiantly make into this years top 5 list for me. This is a cigar that you should not pass up in my opinion. Well done Sam Leccia!!

Rated: 94