Alonso Menendez Robusto Mata Fina Cigar Review

This is a 5x52 stick with a very stiff dark chocolate wrapper offering small veins, invisible seams,tight construction and a sweet chocolate aroma. First light reveals an effortless draw and very good smoke outup. Flavors are medium bodied and show a dry almost musty tobacco taste, like aged tobacco without the smoothness. There's a bit of oily chocolate that hangs around on the long finish. The first third develops to a medium-full body of a zingy pepper and tobacco core with touches of oily licorice. 25 min in at the 1/2 way point, it's transitioned to a very earth, deep and dry tobacco with quite a bit of zingy pepper with just a touch of heat. It leaves you parched and cotton-mouthed with a full finish of earth and pepper lingering around until the next draw. Construction is perfect and smoke output is plentiful although not smooth, instead carrying the pepper through it. The last third didn't show any flavor changes but I did end it fairly early with about 1 1/2 inches remaining simply because it got very mushy and was extremely warm. The last couple draws were just a very hot tobacco taste because of the heat.