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| MBombay Classic Robusto |
The MBombay Classic is one of two lines introduced this year by MBombay Cigars. The company is run by Mel Shah. Shah is a retailer who owns Fame Wine and Cigars in Palm Springs, California. After retiring from the IT industry in 2001, Shah opened his shop and now after more than a decade on the retail end, he is entering the manufacturing end. Earlier this year, Shah launched his first two offerings – the MBombay Classic, an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade cigar and the MBombay Maduro, a Brazilian Mata Fina offering. Today we take a closer look at the MBombay Classic. As the name indicates this is what I would term a “classic” Connecticut Shade wrapper cigar in terms of flavor, but one very contemporary in terms of body.
Shah is turning to Costa Rica to produce his cigars, which in this author’s opinion has been producing some very good cigars over the past few years. According to the company, they are only four to five rollers in the factory who make his cigars. While production is limited, one can certainly make the argument that the company is taking an aggressive approach to their total production as company. They are producing 1000 twenty count boxes per month. The plan is to limit distribution to 200 to 250 stores nationwide.
Without further ado, let’s break down the MBombay Classic and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The MBombay Classic uses a five country multi-national blend. The blend is highlighted by its Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper from 2001.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut 2001
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Peruvian
Vitolas Available
The MBombay Classic has been launched in five sizes:
Corona: 5 x 43
Robusto: 4 1/2 x 48
Belicoso: 5 x 52
Perfecto: 6 x 50
Churchill: 7 x 48
Appearance
For this cigar experience, I smoked the MBombay Classic Robusto. The MBombay Robusto has a light brown color to it. The surface of the wrapper has a decent amount of oil on it. There are some thin visible veins and the wrapper seams are well hidden. The foot of the cigar is covered.
The cigar has a large band covering the middle section. It has an Indian-mosaic design consisting of a red, bold pink, and olive color scheme. There is a red stripe toward the lower part of the band with the text “MBOMBAY” in gold font.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Before lighting up my MBombay Classic Robusto, I went with a straight cut to remove the cap. After successfully removing the cap, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The dry draw provided a mix of cream, wood, and a light spice. Even with the covered foot, the dry draw still produced some nice flavor. Overall I considered the pre-light draw of the MBombay Classic Robusto to be satisfactory. At this point, I was ready to light up my MBombay classic and see what this cigar would deliver.
Flavor Profile
The start to the MBombay Classic Robusto provided a mix of wood, spice and cream notes. The wood notes moved into the forefront. The spice was a close secondary and seemed to have an intangible quality that I considered to be a “black pepper plus”. The cream notes were secondary notes. Meanwhile the wood and spice notes could also be detected on the retro-hale.
Later in the first third, there was a slight natural tobacco sweet note that emerged in the background and this became a little more prominent in the second third. Meanwhile the wood and spice notes were now combining to make up the primary flavors.
In the second half, the cream notes dialed back. The wood and spice notes remained in the forefront with the natural tobacco sweetness secondary. This is the way the flavor profile held until the end. The resulting nub was outstanding – firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
Construction-wise, I found the MBombay Classic Robusto to be as good as any cigar – and this was reflected very nicely in the burn and draw. The burn of the MBombay Classic Robusto remained sharp from start to finish requiring minimal touch-ups. The resulting ash was mostly on the firm side with only some occasional flaking. The ash had a nice light silver color to it. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
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| Burn of the MBombay Classic Robusto |
The draw was outstanding too. The draw itself was not too tight and not too loose. For a smaller cigar that did not have a loose draw, I was quite pleased with the amount of smoke this cigar produced.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, I didn’t find the MBombay Classic to push the traditional boundaries of an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade cigar. The strength remained in the mild to medium range from start to finish. The body of this cigar was a different story. I found the flavors to have some nice and depth. The MBombay Classic Robusto started out medium-bodied and by the second half, it had progressed to medium to full-bodied. The retro-hale contributed to some of the weight on the pallet. In terms of strength versus body, I found the body definitely had the edge.
Final Thoughts
Overall this was an interesting smoke. I was really surprised by the way the body of this cigar weighed on the pallet. I found this to be a well-made cigar with what I would term a very simple flavor profile. The flavors are ones that are good. The challenge this cigar and line has is that it is competing in a very crowded Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper market for shelf-space. In a price range of $8.50 to $11.50 for this line, it is going to be up against more complex, less expensive offerings. I will say this is a nice cigar for the novice or experienced looking for something with deeper flavors without the nicotine. In the end, there is still enough cigar to definitely making it worth trying one.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Mild to Medium
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Good
Assessment: 2.5 – Try One
Score: 87
References
News: n/a
Price: $8.50 – $11.50 (for MBombay Classic line)
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Episode: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
