A J Fernandez Spectre Robusto

I'm running behind on reviews, but I just had to make time to review this Spectre robusto since it's blended by the master A.J. Fernandez and I love nearly every cigar he blends. I couldn't find much information on this cigar, other than some speculation on other review sites about filler blends and how unique the flavor mix is. What I do know is this; it has a dark maduro wrapper and a "secret blend" of filler tobaccos. After smoking the Spectre, I can say it has one of the most complex flavor mixes I have encountered in 35 years of cigar smoking. Did I like it? Was it good? Read on and find out...

Quick Details

• Cigar Size: 5  x 50 Robusto
• Wrapper:  Maduro
• Filler: Secret blend
• Price: $8.00

As I removed this cigar from the cellophane two things jumped right out; how dark the maduro wrapper is and the size of the band. I'm not one for large bands, I will get into that more when I do my post on bands, but it did come right off with no wrapper damage. The Spectre has a stout, toothy wrapper that was rolled on with tight but visible seams and it contained a couple small/medium veins. Feeling down the body, it was packed firmly, but not overly hard full length and I found no soft areas.

Checking aromas from the foot stumped me for a bit. After several attempts the best description I can come up with is barnyard. Once the end was clipped the free cold draw also had notes of barnyard, but with a lingering sweetness. Once the cigar was burning, the flavor mix was not at all what I was expecting.

The first mouthfuls of chewy, medium bodied, nutty scented smoke had nuances of oak, molasses and nutmeg with the same lingering sweet aftertaste. As the burn progressed the flavor mix changed every two or three draws. I found notes of, nuts, cream, cocoa, coffee, over-ripe citrus, black pepper, peat, hay and a sharp blast of bold red pepper in the final inch. Other than the red pepper in the final inch I thought the ever changing flavor mix was fantastic.

Burn wise the cigar was great. It burned cool full length leaving behind a light gray ash that held on for about an inch.

Overall, I really liked this Spectre Robusto. The flavor mix kept me guessing throughout the entire burn, most of the flavors came, went and then came back again at one point or another. I'm glad that I picked up a five pack and perhaps a bit more humidor time will give the red pepper time to mellow a bit.

Once again A J Fernandez blends another winner in my book!

Rated: 93