Old Henry Robusto

[Don Fernando]

This Holts houseblend is created by Don Pepin Garcia from Nicaraguan tobacco with a Nicaraguan Corojo or a maduro wrapper from the Connecticut Valley area. The name comes from the dog of the Holts owner that wanted a cigar with this name and his picture on the band in remembrance of his old pal. I can't say that it's a beautiful picture though, but then again, show me a picture of a bulldog that I think is pretty and I'll send you some cigars. With a picture like this on the band I just hope it isn't a dog rocket.



The 5 x 50 robusto comes in cellophane and once unpacked I can smell a hay & barnyard aroma. The wrapper looks smooth & oily but feels silky and doesn't have a lot of veins. The construction isn't what I expect from a Don Pepin cigar, I can feel some soft spots but to my surprise the predraw isn't loose because of the soft spots. Quite the opposite, the draw is a bit hard and leaves me with a raisin & pepper flavor on my palate.



I taste coffee and wood with a firm dose of black pepper. The pepper is the dominant flavor with wood as support after half an inch. The coffee is gone by then. After an inch I can taste some toasty flavors with some wood.



Halfway the support is all wood again with a sweet and peppery aftertaste en far far away a little bit of chocolate. The sweetness grows a bit in strength after 2/3rd but the pepper is still dominant with toast and wood as support.



The draw is a bit hard but I get enough, medium thick, smoke from this Old Henry. The ash is medium gray and quite firm. The burn is good. This is a medium bodied medium flavored smoke in my book.



Would I buy this cigar again? If I get back to Philly and Holts has a nice offer, I will get some more.

Appearance: 7 / 10
Construction: 6 / 10
Draw: 6 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10