Joya de Nicaragua Black Swan Robusto

Purchased: 4 X 5-pack Robusto (5 X 54)
Store: CigarPage.com
Price: $19.99
Buy Again: Yes
Box Worthy: Yes
Experience Rating: 96

I did a previous review on the JDN Black Swan Corona a few weeks ago. The flavor profile of the Robusto is basically the same with some differences, so I won’t spend much time discussing the profile.

After smoking three of the Robustos since I got them a couple of weeks ago, amazingly enough, I prefer the Robusto vitola. While the flavor profiles are similar, the one thing I like about the Robusto is that it is much smoother overall. The flavors aren’t as intense as the Corona, but the smoothness of the Robusto makes it much more balanced and nuanced.

Nuanced is an apt way to describe this stick. Where the Corona’s presentation is bold and at times heavy-handed, the Robusto has a much lighter touch, making me pay more attention to it. The experience it offers is sublime. As with the Corona, there aren’t a myriad of flavors in the profile. But the vegetal, mushroom-like flavors are subdued in favor of a gorgeous, nutty note, accompanied by chocolate malt. The foundation of the cigar is still earthy and slightly spicy, but everything is turned down just a notch.

And mind you, it doesn’t mean it’s less flavorful. But the lower strength allows other flavors to come through as the more prominent flavors of the Corona back off with the wider format of the Robusto. For instance, the marzipan I tasted in the last one shines a little more brightly. It was light and almost fleeting in the Corona but is allowed to come forward a bit more in the Robusto. The same goes for the chocolate malt, especially in the final third.

I will next be getting my hands on the Toro, which is my go-to vitola. I’m very interested in that one with its longer length and slightly narrower ring gauge of 52. It might provide just a slight bit more intensity than the Robusto, but not as much as the Corona.

Total smoke time for me was around 1:15, which is the same time for the Corona. As for construction and draw, the cigar was solid, though not packed as tightly as the Corona and the draw was just slightly tighter than a Padron. But smoke production was off the hook!

As I’ve mentioned before, to me at least, the JDN Black Swan is the best of the Black Swan line. This is yet another that I will be adding to my regular rotation!