Alonso Menendez Robusto (5 x 50)

Video review HERE.


This cigar is from Dona Flor where it is well thought of in Europe. It is suppose to be fuller bodied than their other Brazilian cigars and with Americans gravitating to fuller bodied cigars they want to bring it to the U.S. in hopes it will catch on here. To give it a more robust flavor the cigar uses extra Mata Norte tobacco.


The cigar is a dark brown in color and it feels dense in the hand.

After cutting the cap the test draw had a slight amount of firmness. The initial flavors were coffee, lightly sweet almond, and earth notes. There was very little pepper noted. In fact, I would rate the pepper at a 3 initially. The finish is a lightly sweet raw almond with no lingering pepper.

After about 1/2 inch in the cigar did not change much. The flavors now are one of coffee and earth notes primarily with the lightly sweet raw almonds secondary. Very little pepper. The finish is a raw almond with a little sweetness and very little pepper. From what I can see the "full bodied" the Dona Flor people spoke about refers to the heavy earthiness. I would call the cigar medium bodied at best.

About 1 1/2 inches in the ash is tight and the cigar is burning very evenly. The only change is there are now light cedar notes to go along with the light raw almonds. The cigar is still one of predominantly coffee and earth. The pepper has actually increase to a 4. It is still light. The finish is unchanged.

At the midpoint the breakdown of flavors in order are (1) earth, (2) coffee, followed by (3) light cedar and light raw almond. The pepper might be up to a 5 by now. The finish is a lightly sweet raw almond and there is some lingering pepper now. The cigar is medium bodied.

The cigar ended up very earthy in flavor. If you like earth-heavy cigars you will like this cigar. There are coffee notes secondary to the earth. The raw almonds have pretty much gone away and you are left with light cedar notes. The pepper remained about a 5. In fact, there seems to be more pepper on the finish than on the initial spice, which is odd. The finish ended as one of  a light raw almond. The cigar ended up medium bodied. There is no richness to the cigar. Earth. That's the predominant flavor. I appreciate Dona Flor sending the cigar to me to try but it just wasn't "my thing". I urge you fellow cigar lovers who like earthy cigars to give it a try once it hits the U.S. markets.


Score: 83