Rebellion Rockstar Paradise City Robusto: Just how green is the grass?

I first met Shaun and Mandi of Rebellion Cigars on a virtual herf with Cigar Club LDN when the Vegas de Santiago cigar was chosen as the “cigar of the month”. When they approached me to review some of their Rebellion Rockstar cigars I was very interested to see what their own brand cigars were like. They were kind enough to send through their Rockstar Sampler pack for me to review at my leisure.

All five of the cigars in the Rockstar Sampler pack are named after different hard rock songs – Ace of Spades, Sweet Child O Mine, Voodoo Child, You Shook Me All Night Long and Paradise City. Between them they cover everything from a full-bodied maduro, to a mild-bodied claro. All of the blends sounded appetising, but the one I decided to smoke first was the Paradise City.

The Paradise City Robusto was the lightest cigar in the sampler. I will be the first to admit that up until now I’ve not been the biggest fan of lighter cigars, especially those with a Connecticut wrapper like this one sports, but having smoked and enjoyed a few of this style recently, I wondered if my luck would still be in.

Handling the cigar was a lovely experience The wrapper was a delicious latte coffee colour with only a few thin veins tracing a delicate web over the wrapper. Aromas of hay, milk and bay leaf tickled my nose, and once cut, the draw was easy and creamy despite the cigar feeling very well packed.

Once lit, there was a hint of bitterness at the back of my mouth. This got me a little concerned that I might have made the wrong choice of cigar for my first review of the Rebellion Rockstar line-up. I needn’t have worried though as this was a transitory flavour that very quickly disappeared without a trace, leaving behind notes of coffee and hops. Towards the end of the first third, a big draw on the Paradise City released a delicious flavour bomb of creamy fresh tarragon in my mouth with a pinch of ginger on the retrohale. “So far, so good” I thought as I prepared myself for the passage into the middle third.

It was in this middle third that the cigar started to get really exciting. A gentle liquorice flavour was the first thing I noticed, while the hoppy tastes that I had picked up on at the start had developed into a light real ale note. It was very swiftly joined by a peppery cream and these three flavours gracefully sashayed around each other.

Meanwhile, the smoke was something to behold. Often I would allow the immense smoke to trail out from my lips, savouring its smoothness. Other times I would languidly blow smoke rings and admire their rotating shape as they drifted upwards into the sizeable, sweet smelling cloud above me.

The final third signalled another transition in flavours. Just about all the tastes that had been present in the lead up to this point subsided and left a distinctive mineral note. It didn’t quite taste like soda water, and it lacked the intensity of tonic water, but there was a definite taste of effervescence.

My only complaint about the Rebellion Rockstar Paradise City cigar was the ash. Whilst the burn was perfectly even for the entire length, and yes I did smoke it right down to my lips, I found the ash on this particular cigar a little flaky. It didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment of the cigar, but would have added extra Rock Goddess points to the smoking experience had I been able to maintain a good long ash.

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Rebellion Rockstar Paradise City Robusto Cigar Details