Hoyo Maduro Robusto by A.J. Fernandez

[xrundog]

I pulled this cigar out of the humidor because it looked luscious! The wrapper looks like a broad leaf. It was dark substantial and toothy. The cigar was firm and tightly rolled. The cap was a bit wacky, but I'm not a stickler for a perfect cap. The Band simply read: Hoyo. And then the second band reads: AJ Hernandez. I forgot to measure the cigar, but it looked like a 5.25" x 50 robusto.



The foot smelled earthy. I clipped the cap with a guillotine. A little tight, but it drew. I lit the foot with a match and puffed away. Hmmm, still a bit tight. Not as much smoke as I like. I used my Perfect Draw tool to saw out the cap end. Still a little tight but I got a lot more smoke. I settled in to smoke.
Initially this cigar gave me simple strong tobacco flavor. By the halfway point the strength increased reminding me of the first Diesel I smoked 18 or 19 years ago. I am not necessarily put off by a strong cigar. I can handle it. But I like some complexity and nuance. There was none of that. The power just steadily increased.
The cigar was really well constructed. I knocked the first ash off about an inch and a half in and a perfectly centered cone was revealed. It burned straight pretty much the whole way. The ash was dark and bumpy.
By the flavor my guess is that this is a Honduran cigar. It reminded me of a Honduran Bolivar or El Rey del Mundo. Those are not favorites of mine.
I have to say that I didn't care for the flavor profile of this cigar. I don't want more.
My rating is 2.5 of 5.

Epilogue: A search shows this to be a Hoyo La Amistad. This one had silver on the band instead of gold like what I saw in my search. Maybe a different wrapper? It has all Nicaraguan filler. Geez, wrong again! This tasted nothing like a Nicaraguan cigar to me. This cigar really messed with my perceptions.