El Viejo Continente Classic Robustom: An exciting prospect

Sometimes you come across a supplier that can’t put a foot wrong. Since I discovered Boutique Smokes back in August 2020, I have slowly been smoking my way through their entire portfolio. Out of all of the cigars that I have smoked and reviewed so far, I think that the El Viejo Continente Classic Robustom is my favourite.

Removing the cigar from my humidor, there was a lovely even firmess from head to foot and as I slipped it out of the protective cellophane wrapper my nostrils were tickled with aromas of fresh grass in the spring time with the final vestiges of a morning dew still clinging on. The cold draw reinforced this delectable picture with notes of sweet hay.

Upon lighting the cigar, the flavours were no less delightful and appetising. The Classic Robustom was sweet but not too forthright in its sweetness. There was a botrytised richness to the flavour that made me savour, even more so that usual, every single draw.

At the start, there was a slight unevenness to to the burn, but I put that down to my eagerness to start smoking the cigar and not quite lighting it correctly. A quick touch-up and rotate sorted any issue there might have been and I was good to enjoy the rest of the stick in all its delicious dark chocolate glory.

As I progressed through the first third of the Classic Robustom cigar and in to the middle section, the flavours started to change very subtly, like perfectly composed minimalist music. Whilst there was still that undercurrent of sweetness, a gentle earthiness joined the mix and I risked a retrohale. What a delight the flavours presented me with. Not only did I taste even more of the dark chocolate, but gentle notes of pine enhanced the beauty of the flavour.

There was a good weight to the rich and creamy smoke that defied the gentle wisps that danced through the air when I exhaled. It was in one of the moments when I was admiring the smoke that I truly noticed the detail on the band. It looked like a piece of old vellum that had been abandoned on the shelf for the last hundred years.

El Viejo Continente was traced across the band in gold, the classic italic script exactly what you expect to see on ancient parchment. Faded into the background was an old map of the world but what most caught my eye was the symmetry between the uneven top of the band with its charred and red edge, and glowing ember that tracked around the foot of the cigar.

I was so excited to further admire this balanced beauty that I took one too many draws in quick succession and ended up with a mouthful of very peppery but not unpleasant smoke. This told me that it was time to stop admiring the artistry on the outside of the Classic Robustom and return to the craftsmanship on the inside.

Having let the cigar rest whilst I poured myself a glass of Penderyn Madeira cask whisky, I was met by luscious flavours of gingernut biscuits that had been dunked in cup of tea until they were soft but not disintegrating. At the change to the final third, these were joined by the fruity heat of a deseeded scotch bonnet chilli.

This ushered in the final selection of tastes starting with a sumptuous Chilli con Carne seasoned with dark chocolate. I couldn’t quite decide whether it was a beefy flavour or more of a gamey venison flavour, but at this point in the cigar I was so entranced by the flavours that it didn’t really matter. A purge in the final inch gave me a real hit of chocolatey goodness that sent this gorgeous cigar by El Viejo Continente straight into my top cigars of the year so far – and we’re only in January.

The last time I ended up this excited about a cigar was either after I smoked my second Zino Platinum Chubby or when I set aside a box of Partagas D4‘s to age. The El Viejo Continente Classic Robustom was a delicious cigar to smoke and I can’t wait to get myself a box and see how well they age.

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El Viejo Continente Classic Robustom Cigar Details