Cohiba Robusto 2004

I don't get much Cohiba Robusto....Charlie don't get much U.S.O.  Just a bowl of rice, and a little rat meat if he's lucky.  But I DO have them. And on rare occasions I will pull one out and smoke it.  And so it came to pass that tonight was one of those nights.  I counted them up and saw 8 little robustos in the box, not so short that I wouldn't be able to enjoy one tonight, but getting there.  As I pulled it out, and lit the cigar, I managed to crack a bit of the wrapper, so I wrapped a piece of packing tape across the damaged area.  Not something you want to do on the lit end, but near the head, ehh, why not?  I cut the end and found a fine draw and a minty taste, popped a Hop Wallop, thankfully my LAST one, and went downstairs to the front porch, where I could enjoy a cool spring evening with a moist, clean character to the air.  A storm overnight had spawned tornadoes to the west but merely rained like hell here, and scrubbed all the pollen from the air.  (By the way, if you have kids with allergies, don't keep them indoors in the springtime to "help" them, just give them half a Benadryl and push them outside to play.  When they grow up as allergy free adults, they will thank you for it.  Let the body go through it's natural progressions no matter how distorted their faces get.)  Where was I??  Oh yes, the porch.  I greeted my three children, Magnolia, Frasier and Rhododendron, and popped open my collapsible chair and sat down to watch the world go by.

The cigar drew like a dream and gave up a light spice, some sugary, minty coolness and some coffee flavors.  The burn was razor straight and perfectly well-behaved.  It seemed a shame to ash it with a 1.5 inch ash, but I am not one to try and discover how far I can push it until it lands in my lap.  

I said earlier that I was glad I was out of Hop Wallop.  I do not think a grapefruit character makes a beer good.  Beer is barley and a little hops.  Not a citrus drink.  Hops have a place for me, and it is not in the lead role............But I hate to say it,  I really enjoyed this bottle.  Maybe its the year it spent in the fridge.  Maybe I am finding that I like to have some of everything on hand and maybe dark stouts aren't everything.  In any event, the beer went well with the cigar.  It did not bring out or amplify any of the cigar's flavors, but it was a great compliment from a back and forth standpoint.  I looked forward to each after having a sip of the other.  So OK, maybe I will buy another 6-er of Hop Wallop for the cellar.  I may not prefer it, but I won't say it is a cheap, crappy beer.  It's mighty fine for something I don't like much.

The Cohiba Robusto did something I rarely find, too.  The longer I smoked it, the better it got.  Almost everyone uses this idea in reviews, but I do not usually find improvement over the length of a cigar.  I find them best at the start, and I ruin them by over-puffing usually.  So when it happens and I notice it, it stands out.  I can't say that it changed so much as it became more enjoyable to me as it burned towards the band.  The chocolate hints mixed with the tar to become a rich dark chocolate tone that hid it's nasty implication.  The sugar turned to caramel, but subtly so, and the coffee turned to espresso.  I could not nub the smoke, there was a lot of tape on it.  But I enjoyed this cigar and wish I had been more careful with it right out of the box.  Not a high scorer, but a great smoke...I give it a score of 88.