Cigar Review - Obsidian Robusto
Obsidian Box Press
Vitola: Robusto
Length: 5.5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Brazilian Habano Ligero
Binder: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Filler: Criollo ’98
Pairing: Café Bustello Espresso style coffee
The cigar catalogs really know what they're doing when they advertise. For a while I have seen the ads for Obsidian and have wanted to try one because of the description. Last month I was picking up a few other things and saw a decent deal on these on cbid. I picked up a 5 pack.
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Fit and Finish: A very dark wrapper under the cardboard "band" which takes up half of the cigar. Moderately veined and toothy, the cap looks a little sketchy to me, hopefully it won't be a problem. One the nose it is all hay.
Draw: The draw is extremely loose following the v-cut. Again all hay on the cold draw.
Toast/Light: Kept at 65% for a month, this thing is a bit flammable. I know that is the point of a cigar, but this one actually wanted to flame up on the foot while toasting. It's not my first time toasting a cigar and I don't get too close to the flame when doing so. Even so, it scorches a little during the lighting. Initial draw gives a blast of pepper and tons of smoke. The cap wants to come off a little on the very first draw.
First third: It starts strong on the pepper, with hay dominating everything. It's a dry hay, if that makes any sense. The pepper dies down a bit but is still very much present. The copious smoke production continues and a bit of cedar shows up. The draw is still extremely loose but the smoke production is very good. I wonder if the looseness will result in it burring a bit hot. It continues with a mostly dry hay flavor with moderate pepper. Cocoa finally shows up but is very much in the background. As I near the end of this third it is a developing a bit of harshness, the ash is a little flaky and the cap is coming off, despite numerous attempts to wet it back down (see photo below).
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Second Third: Pepper flashes back up as I head into the second third and it picks up a brief taste of roasted coffee. The burn is straight, the ash is increasingly flaky, and the smoke production remains high. It takes on a toasted flavor, not nuts, more like toasted hay. Really? Yes, my limited palate is calling it toasted hay. It self-ashes at 2". Bitter chocolate comes in and the harshness is coming back. I purge it and it's back to just hay and pepper. By the mid-point of the cigar I am getting a big nicotine hit. The profile moves back into bittersweet chocolate and pepper and the harshness is back again. Even the resting smoke isn't that pleasant. The harshness is ramping up even more and it's starting to irritate the back of my throat. A little cedar comes back and then it transitions into all bittersweet cocoa and cedar for the remainder of this third. The ash is flaking enough that it's becoming annoying. I really don't want an ash bath with my cigar.
Final Third: Starting with the bittersweet cocoa, the burn starts to get a little uneven. There is a significant nicotine kick going on and the cap wants to come off with every draw. I finally just pull off the part that's separating. Hay comes back to join the bitter cocoa. As it progresses it goes to all hay and the pepper is fading (or I'm just getting used to it). A little sweetness comes in with the cocoa rather than it being bitter. I finally have to touch it up to even things out a bit. Finally toasted nuts arrive, which seems to be the cue for the harshness to return. This is followed shortly by a sour taste. I give it another 10 minutes and, with an inch left, I am done with this.
Final Thoughts: This was not a particularly complex or pleasant cigar. I picked up a 5 pack and wish I hadn't. I will rest these for a while and give it another try, but for now I can't recommend these, especially with so many other really good sticks out there. It is one of my least favorite cigars that I have ever tried.
Total smoking time: 80 minutes
