A month ago I blogged about my initial explorations of cigar blends. I’ve had time to smoke them more and I’m happy to report my two latest purchases I mentioned earlier both appeal to me.

Robusto has been getting a lot of my attention lately so I thought I’d focus on it here. To be honest, it was a slow start. My initial bowls seemed kind of muddled, flat, and dirty tasting. I don’t usually persevere with blends that don’t strike me at first because there are so many that do. McClelland’s Dominican Glory Maduro had a more instant appeal and I gravitated towards that blend for a while. Pease notes somewhere that you need to develop a vocabulary to appreciate this blend and that proved true. If you decide to try it yourself, stick with it a while. I’m glad I did.

The blend is from his Original Mixtures Collection – introduced a full five years ago. It consists of Virginias, Maduro cigar leaf, Latakia, and Orientals.

The first thing I love about this stuff is how easy it is on the palate. I can smoke this bowl after bowl with little fatigue and no tongue bite. It may be just a little too rich for me to consider it an all day blend, but if I were stuck with it on the proverbial desert island, I’d be a happy camper.

There is a tangy sweetness that is counterbalanced by a gentle edginess in the cigar leaf. As advertised on the tin description, “the Latakia adds roundness and smoothes the edges.” I think it also enhances the sweetness of the Virginias too. As for the Orientals, I can’t really pick out where they start and the cigar leaf starts, but I can taste them. It all works together in a very balanced way – I can see this becoming one of my favorites among Greg Pease’s blends.

If you have been hesitant to try a pipe tobacco blended with cigar leaf thinking it would be too strong and overpowering – or just too much like a cigar, put that aside and give this blend a try. The cigar leaf works as a condiment, and it works very well.

Don’t miss Greg’s recent comments on Robusto – he’s a lot better with words to describe what makes this blend great.

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