by Yannis Valavanis

Smoking a Robustos Partagas, as usual with my morning coffee, I was reminded of some collections that Habanos had released several years ago and I liked them very much because we were given the opportunity to try different brands and flavors in one case. The first edition was in 2004 and had five and the second in 2016 with six Robustos. I looked up the dates, but I do remember the flavors, to be honest with you.

In the collection of five cigars, there were the classic Partagas, Cohiba and Hoyo de Monterrey and the two new of the bunch were the Robustos of Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo, which they did not have in their Vitolario until 2003. In the box where I kept them, there was also a plastic case with a sponge on the top side to be used as a Travel Humidor. Partagas have rich and earthy aromas for strong aficionados, Cohiba is complex aromatic and oily, Hoyo has light flavors for new users, Montecristo has a balanced medium intensity for all smokers and the Romeo is super aromatic with a lasting aftertaste.

The new member of the family, H. Upmann, was added to the collection of six in 2016, with medium intensity and a fairly aromatic aftertaste, completing the entire range of aromas of the Robustos series. Of course, the presentation has a much more contemporary look after a decade of development – Montecristo Open Master, Hoyo Epicure No 2 and Romeo Short Churchill rings renewed their appearance while keeping the absolute pleasure of Habanos. And to mention it again so that we don’t forget, Robustos 50 (19.84mm) ring and 124mm length with a burn of about one hour, makes the ultimate cigar for a morning coffee.