La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra

A few weeks ago, we broke news of the launch of the inaugural line of La Colonia Cigars called the La Colonia Miami.  This project is a collaboration being done with the Casa Fernandez / Tabacalera Tropical factory located in Miami, Florida. It was blended by famed blender Arsenio Ramos and Casa Fernandez company President Paul Palmer-Fernandez and rolled by the company’s top torcedores.  La Colonia Miami is a Nicaraguan puro and incorporates the company’s signature Aganorsa farm tobaccos.  Today we taken a closer look at one of the vitolas, the La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra.  Recently, I’ve smoked a few of these cigars and this cigar is one of those “home run” cigars.  This is a cigar that you definitely need to keep an eye out for.

The La Colonia name is a reprise of an old Cuban brand from the 19th century.  The branding of the cigar features the slogan “Flor de Aganorsa” and pays homage to those famed Fernandez Aganorsa farms located in Nicaragua.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the La Colonia Miami in the Robusto Extra format and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

As mentioned above, the La Colonia Miami is an all Nicaraguan puro.  The blend features 5 to 7 year Aganorsa farm tobacco.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan

Vitolas Available

The La Colonia Miami line has been launched in four sizes:

Corona: 5 x 44
Robusto Extra: 5 1/2 x 50
Toro: 6 x 52
Torpedo: 6 1/8 x 52

Appearance

The La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra has a medium brown wrapper. There is some subtle darker marbling that can be seen on the surface. The surface of the wrapper also has a light oil coat on it. There are some visible wrapper veins and there are some visible wrapper seams.

The band has a black, burnt red, gold, and silver color scheme.  The text “La Colonia” is in a dull gold script sitting on a black oval.  There is a burnt red oval ring with silver trim surrounding the black oval.  On the top of the ring is the text “FLOR DE AGANORSA” in dull gold font while the text “MIAMI” on the bottom of the ring – also in gold font.  The remainder of the band is black with gold trim.  On the right side of the band is a red rectangular shape with silver trim.  On that rectangular field is the text “AR LC PP” in gold font.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut.  After the cap was removed, I proceeded with the pre-light draw.  The dry draw provided a mix of wood, natural tobacco, and spice.  The spice had a slight floral quality to it.  Overall, I considered the pre-light draw to be solid on this cigar.  At this point I was ready to light up the La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra and see what the cigar experience would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

The start to the La Colonia Miami had notes of natural tobacco and white pepper.  Early on a very unique flavor surfaced that has become a signature flavor of this line.  The best way to describe this is that it almost was like chocolate egg cream soda.  It had some sweetness to it, yet still very much had a tobacco taste to it.  Not only was this very different than anything I have had from Casa Fernandez before, but it was one of the most unique flavors I have detected on a cigar. Meanwhile, the white pepper was also prominent on the retro-hale.

Later in the first third, the chocolate egg cream flavor moved up into the forefront while the white pepper was secondary.  As the La Colonia Miami moved into the second third, some cedar now also in the forefront.  The cedar provided a nice fusion with the chocolate egg cream notes and at times, it became more prominent.  The creamy qualities were also prominent on the finish.

In the last third, there was an increase in the pepper spice.  The chocolate egg cream notes diminished slightly.  The cedar notes now became more earthy.  Toward the end of the cigar, the chocolate egg cream, earth, and pepper notes were all on par.  This is the way the cigar experience came to a close.  The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

The burn to the La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra has proven to perform stellar each and every time I smoked it.  The burn line remained sharp from start to finish – requiring minimal touch-ups along the way.  The resulting ash was tight and firm with a white-ish color to it.  The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Burn of the La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra

The draw performed quite well on the La Colonia Miami Robusto Extra.  I found it to be consistent each time I smoked it – not too tight and not too loose.  This cigar also produced an ample amount of smoke.

Strength and Body

The La Colonia Miami was a cigar that definitely had some kick to it.  I assessed this cigar as being medium to full strength for about the first two thirds.  In the final third, the strength picked up just enough to move it into the full strength threshold.  As for the flavors, there was a lot of depth to these flavors – and they weighed nicely on the pallet.  I assessed this cigar as being full-bodied from start to finish.

The goal of the La Colonia Miami was to emphasize flavor and aroma with strength as a by-product. In my assessment of this cigar, this is exactly what I got.

Final Thoughts

From a flavor standpoint, the La Colonia Miami is one of the more unique cigars I had ever smoked.  When I first smoked it, I was a little surprised this even came from the Casa Fernandez factory.  I’ve smoked several of these over the past few months and each time, this cigar delivered. This also was a cigar that impressed me right out of the gate – and over time it has just gotten better.  Overall it’s probably a cigar I would steer a more seasoned cigar enthusiast to, but if a novice is looking for something stronger or fuller, I certainly would encourage him to try this.  As for myself, this cigar is definitely a box worthy cigar.  Look for this one as it starts to be available with more widespread distribution.  This is a cigar that you will be hearing more about for sure.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full (Full last third)
Body: Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: 4.0 – Box Worthy
Score: 92

References

News: La Colonia Cigars Launches Inaugural La Colonia Miami Line (Exclusive)
Price: $9.50
Source: Sample Provided by Manufacturer (*)
Stogie Geeks Episode: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a

* Cigars for this assessment were provided by La Colonia Cigars. The samples were received in order to provide feedback.  Cigar Coop is appreciative for the samples, but in no way does this influence this write-up.