Cohiba Robusto (OSU - March \'03)

[Matthew]

Box Code – OSU March ’03

Vitola – Robusto (4-7/8’ x 50 rg)

Appearance –Light Natural wrapper; medium wrapper leaf thickness; minor-to-average veins (prominent visually but not to the touch); medium oil sheen.

Construction – Firm feel. The cigar has shrunk a little since original purchase and the band slid loosely off the stick. The cigar has been store in the driest part of this particular humidor and crackles a little upon handling; however, the wrapper remains undamaged.

Draw/Burn – Perfect draw. Average volume of smoke. Good burn, fairly sharp; better construction than I expected. Solid ash, not flakey. Lasted a full two hours. Overall construction is above average for ’03 Habanos.

Taste/Flavor/Strength – Mild pre-light aroma. Initial impression is classic Cohiba flavor. Includes light, dry grass; soft fine leather; light toast; difficult to characterize but mild creamy cocoa and coffee beans. Mild-medium flavor strength. Very smooth; nothing astringent, nothing unpleasant. A bit less strong than I expected. Clearly, five years have allowed this cigar to develop well. As the cigar developed, the grassiness dissipated slightly and the flavor strength moved to medium-full. After the first inch, some of the youthful tannins began to emerge; I detected a hint of metallic essence (which I sometimes describe as a hint of green peppers). Towards the end it became too harsh to enjoy, especially the last inch. Though the second half was not as good as the first, it is still a winner based upon its future potential.

Conclusion/Comments – I have been sampling the cigars from this box 3-4 times a year and each experience has been better than the last. For the first three years, I was a little disappointed, but the past year or so has made up for it. Still, this cigar has a few more years of development before it really hits its stride. For those of you with young CoRos, just put them away for a while and don’t sample them too frequently or you won’t have any left by the time they transition to a fully excellent smoke. Overall, I’d rate this “good” with “very good” potential.

[Daidemo]

Great review!

I have CoRo with same date but different factory code- EAR MAR 03 (actually they are both from Partagas factory). Mine are going in different direction: they are fading out. I have a feeling that they already reached the peak and I don’t expect any positive changes in the future. But let’s give them a chance…

[El Presidente]

Thanks for the review Mat.

What a great comparison would be is to move one of your remaining CR into a 63-65% RH environment and see what difference it makes. I only point this out as your initial description points to perhaps a sub 60% RH?