HdM Petit Robusto: from 2006: HdM Review Comp 2016

[Smoking Ninja]

My first review here on FOH.  It's been awhile since last time I wrote a cigar review.  

Today I lid up one of my all time favorites, the HdM Petit Robusto, pairing with the Date Japanese whisky I picked up from my last Japan trip.  This little monster is from 2006 and I don't remember what box code it belongs to.  It is one of the box of 15 I purchased back in 2008 and has been sitting in my humi for a solid eight years!!  I believe these are one of the most overlooked CCs out there.

Since it is a small cigar, I will just break it down to two halves.

Construction:  Beautiful dark Colorado shade with nice oil sheen to it.  It felt solid and the wrapper was silky smooth with very few thin veins.   

The draw:  It was perfect.  Not too tight and not a wind tunnel.

Pre-light:  I tasted clean tobacco and a hint of hay.

1st half:  Medium body.  It was really creamy and sweet with coffee, toasted tobacco, and hint of chocolate.  Medium finish.  Oh man it was delicious.  Last time I smoked one of these it was like two years ago and man I miss that flavor so much.  Very consistent throughout.  Needed to touch up a few times that is probably due to not dry boxing it.  

2nd half:  The flavors became more intense.  More cream and sweet.  Like smoking a latte with a bit of coco presence.  It was just perfect pairing with this Date Japanese whisky. The Date is really sweet and just a tiny bit of peat to it.

Conclusion:  It was a slow burning cigar.  Total burn time was 50 mins.  Total score: 93 out of 100.  Oh my, it was my top 3 for sure.  That 10 year of aging really bring out the full potential of these little beauty.  I am down to one left in my humi... I will definitely look for a cab and put it away for at least 5 years.  If you haven't tried one of these, I highly recommend you get a few singles, smoke one now and put few away for couple years and give it a shot to compare.  I remember when I first got the box, I smoked one right the way and it was really green and didn't have that much of flavor to it.  Now they are just AWESOME!!!!

 

Hope you all enjoy my first review!! 

[jcorona]

Nice review. I'm no expert, but I've read that mild cigars don't age well. Your review shows otherwise, which is interesting.

[miurajus]

Thanks for the great review.  Brilliant looking cigar.  It's great to hear that you still have one left after how it's smoked!

@jcorona msgd ya.

[Sean3]

Nice review sir.

[golfgar]

Bravo thanks

[Danimalia]

Have a soft spot for these little stubbies ever since I first smoked one at the LCDH in Tijuana, zonked out of my mind on Mexican pharmaceuticals. 

[Danimalia]

17 hours ago, jcorona said:

Nice review. I'm no expert, but I've read that mild cigars don't age well. Your review shows otherwise, which is interesting.

Hmm. There are definitely much better authorities than me on this topic, but the Hoyos I've had have been fairly light in body, but have plenty enough flavor to stand up to some age. Cigars that are both mild in flavor and lighter in body, though, I think that might be right.

[Smoking Ninja]

17 minutes ago, Danimalia said:

Hmm. There are definitely much better authorities than me on this topic, but the Hoyos I've had have been fairly light in body, but have plenty enough flavor to stand up to some age. Cigars that are both mild in flavor and lighter in body, though, I think that might be right.

I agree with Danimalia.  In my limited experience, a cigar with more flavors ages much better than lighter flavor/one dimensional cigar disregard the strength in body.  In this case it did have a lighter body but the flavor was just so much more and the aging really showed its work!!  I had some NCs with lighter flavors and they really don't get any benefits from aging... the flavors would just fade away with time!