Cigar Review - Long Ash Cigars Robusto Candella
Long Ash Cigars – Robusto Candella
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: Candella
Binder: ?
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican
Pairing: Marley Lively Up coffee
This weekend my lovely wife and I visited Ybor City, FL. We have been several times in the past but I have never tried any of the fresh-rolled cigars that are readily available there. While strolling down the street she suggested we stop in to Long Ash Cigars and see what they had to offer. They had a small selection of Acids but the vast majority were all fresh-rolled from their own stock. They came in a variety of wrappers and vitolas with varying strengths indicated. The candella wrappers caught my eye because I'd never seen one, much less tried one, and because...they're green.
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Fit and Finish: The cigar nice nicely constructed, with a good seam, excellent cap and only medium veined. There are couple of very mild imperfections but overall it's a great-looking cigar. The cold sniff reveals only a fresh grassy aroma. No hint of cedar or the usual cigar smells.
Draw: A v-cut gives a slightly loose draw and I am hoping it won't be a problem. The taste on the cold draw is once again grassy and fresh. No hint of anything else. Not unpleasant, but very different than what I'm used to.
Toast/Light: After toasting for a couple of minutes I still don't have a decent light. There is grey ash at the foot and a little smoke, but no real embers when blowing on the foot. I finally give a couple of puffs while lighting and it gets going just fine. Excellent smoke production and the initial taste stays true. Fresh grass. How much of this is due to the color and is in my mind I'm not sure. But I do know that it's all I can taste so far. There is no issue with the draw.
First third: Now I am picking up more flavor from this candella. The fresh grass taste is still there and it has added a very rich chocolate flavor. There is not even a hint of spice or pepper to it. It's actually very tasty and pairs great with my coffee.
Second Third: The palate doesn't change in the second third. I just have the flavors alternating between grassy and chocolate. It is still very pleasant and the burn is perfect. I was worried that with the fresh-rolled there would be tunneling problems, but it has been great.
Final Third: A bit of harshness creeps in as I begin the final third. Not horrible, just harsh. As I continue on it subsides and the chocolate comes back even stronger and at the very end a little pepper finally makes an appearance.
Final Thoughts: I realize that “fresh” isn't the best descriptor of a cigar but it is the one that fits the best. Even the resting smoke, crazy as it sounds, seems fresh. Not necessarily light, but not heavy and cloying either. This cigar is the very epitome of mild. It would be a great morning smoke, or one for when you are just hanging out with the family in the back yard and don't want to have to pay attention to what your cigar is doing. Just smoke it and enjoy it. I won't go out of my way to get more, but when I am in Ybor I will most likely pick a few more up for the changeup or for when I just want a really mild, fresh-tasting stick.
