Modicum Robusto (FRC#2Jun24)

[JoeyBones777]

I don't have much information on these. Modicum is a cigar made for The French Laundry under the same name as the Napa Valley wine bottled exclusively for tfl. This cigar is a 5x50 robusto with a closed foot. The construction on it is beautiful, there are no soft spots or wrapper blemishes. The packaging is understated elegance.

Upon lighting the closed foot there is a blast of sweet cedar and earth. The finish is savory and a little peppery.

First third, the draw is Cubanesque, firm but good smoke output. The milkshake through a straw analogy describes it perfectly. It is a slow burner, 20 minutes in and a half an inch down. The flavors are a nice balance of sweet and savory. There is sweet cedar, toasted nuts, musty earth, light roast coffee and very light pepper on the finish. There is a peat/scotch note that comes in at the end of the finish which is quite lovely. It is very balanced and smooth. The aroma is fantastic, as well. The burn isn't razor sharp but is self correcting and never getting too wavy to where I even think I might need to correct it. The ash is holding strong on this tightly packed cigar.

Second third shows flavors of sweet cream that has a mineral finish to it, musty earth, nuts, sweet cedar, very light pepper, and light peat/scotch at the end of the finish. Draw and burn are great with the burn self correcting. 

Final third the ash held for more than half of the cigar easily but I had to tap it to relight. I went too long in between puffs due to a phone call. The sweet cream increased with minimal minerality now, musty earth, nuts building in intensity throughout this third, sweet cedar, medium pepper, scotch on end of finish and great aroma. A small crack formed due to the humidity outside but didn't effect its performance. 

A cigar blended for a 3 Michelin star restaurant carries big expectations. Three Mich restaurants are said to be good enough to center your trip to the area around for an overall incredibly memorable experience. Thomas Keller is a cigar smoker and he worked with Davidoff on their 2016 Chef"s edition cigar. The French Laundry has a cigar lounge and cigar sommelier, raising the bar on expectations.

I would expect a memorable cigar, suitable for most, if not, all palates, with smooth, complex flavors, incredible balance and perfect performance. Did they nail it? Yes! Final smoking time was 2 hours and 5 minutes, it started medium in flavor and finished medium-full, medium body throughout and medium strength. It was smooth, complex, balanced and engaging. The draw was perfect, requiring only one puff for plenty of smoke and the burn required only 1 touch up in the final third, which may have been effected by the humidity. It burned a little hot at the nub but didn't effect the flavor which remained smooth, delicious and complex through until I set it down.

My overall rating is a 96. Thus is one of the best smoking experiences I've ever had. Having to guess, I would say this blend certainly containes high quality aged tobacco, given its mustiness and burn time. My thoughts are it is likely made by Davidoff for tfl, given TK's history with them. It seems a.no brainer to have Davidoff make a cigar that clearly requires a ton of attention to detail. Plus, the flavors speak to Dominican tobacco to me. This seems the perfect cigar to cap off a world renowned tasting dinner in an opulent setting with a fine aged scotch or spirit of your choice. I don't know the price point on these, but I can see spending $50 easily and not be disappointed in the context of tfl.

If anyone has definitive information on factory, blend or price, please let me know. I've tried contacting tfl for info with no avail just yet.

[JohnS]

Well, I believe that the greater majority of our members who didn't know of this cigar before, do so now. Thanks for your great review! 👍

[Shakey]

Great review, thank you for sharing!