Foundation Olmec Claro Robusto (5 x 50)

Video review HERE.

(Description taken from Halfwheel.com website)

The company describes Olmec as a tribute to Mexico and its ancient Mesoamerican people, which inhabited the San Andrés Valley in Veracruz, where cigar tobacco is grown. As such, the Olmec blend uses two different Mexican San Andrés wrappers, as one blend uses a lighter claro wrapper and the other a darker and stronger maduro wrapper. Both versions use Nicaraguan binders and fillers, are being produced by AJ Fernandez in Nicaragua, and are offered in the same five sizes:

Olmec Claro/Maduro Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 48) — $12.50 (Box of 12, $150)

Olmec Claro/Maduro Robusto (5 x 50) — $13.50 (Box of 12, $162) REVIEWED TODAY

Olmec Claro/Maduro Toro (6 x 52) — $14.50 (Box of 12, $174)

Olmec Claro/Maduro Grande (6 x 60) — $15.50 (Box of 12, $186)

Olmec Claro/Maduro Double Corona (7 x 52) — $16 (Box of 12, $192)

The cigar is a dark brown and has an average to good feel in the hand.

The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors at light up were citrus/apricot, brown sugar, a light thread of citrus peel, and light dry cocoa. The sweeter notes outweigh the cocoa notes. There was black pepper rated at 7. A nice, sweet start. Not a lot of maduro-type notes at this point.

At the first third (22 minutes) I had the same basic notes but the cocoa came out more. It's a little earthy but nice. I still had the citrus/apricot thing going on along with nice brown sugar. The citrus peel is very faint. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is cocoa with good lingering black pepper. The flavors are a nice combination. I rated the first third 94.

Moving through the second third (45 minutes) the cigar got a little more earthy. There are now black coffee notes. The front end sweet notes are suffering a little. The cigar is still medium bodied. The finish is brown sugar and cocoa with very good lingering black pepper. The cigar is still enjoyable but I lowered the score to 92.

The cigar lasted 1 hour 2 minutes. And it bounced back to very much like the first third; citrus, apricot, brown sugar, hardly any citrus peel, and a lot of cocoa. There are light black coffee notes but they don't hurt. The cigar is medium bodied. The finish is cocoa and very good lingering black pepper. With the bounce back in flavors I reverted back to the score of 94 for the final third. I am anxious to try the dark maduro version, which I will review next week. But, the claro version is very good.

Overall Score: 93.33