Cigar Review – The Griffin’s Robusto

At the request of a twitter friend, I’ve decided to review some cigars that I smoke, or have smoked on occasion.  Her request was for some suggestions for mild bodied cigars she could enjoy for her birthday.  I spewed out the names of several stogies I have enjoyed, but felt something was missing.  My telling her to smoke a cigar that I liked was akin to you telling me to date this girl you like.  Just because she is your type of woman, doesn’t mean she’s mine.  For the record, I’m taken.  It’s just an example.

So, I promised @tattooedmommie I’d review cigars, post them somewhere special, and link it to her.  And here is that somewhere special.  And this is the first review.  I choose a The Griffin’s Natural Robusto for the first review because I have found it to be a rather mild, mellow smoke that about anyone can enjoy, if they remotely enjoy cigars.  I found them online for less than $5 a stick, though walking

into the store I paid $8.50.  That does tell me I need to go shop around a bit more going forward.

I prefer a shorter (under 5.5 inches) and larger ring gauge (46-50) cigar.  Some of the cigars I smoke will have a 40 gauge, but I find they burn hotter, or don’t have that hand feel I appreciate.  I like a shorter length cigar because I rarely want to spend 40 minutes sitting in one place.  And while a cigar is a great excuse to take time out for yourself, I like 30 min and under cigars.

I cut and light my cigars in a pretty specific manner.  I think that lighting my cigar is rather important.

With my Griffin lit, I started my review.  I first noticed the feel of the wrapper.  It was silky smooth, with nary an imperfection on it.  I should probably go look to see if it was a Connecticut Shade wrapper, or some other wrapper, but I’m being lazy.  It was a very good leaf, however.  Not all wrappers have that soft, silky feel.  As I get to others, I’ll describe them as best I can.  This didn’t feel as good as running my fingers over a silken clad leg, but it was close!

The first measure of a cigar for me is the scent.  Not necessarily to myself, because I’ve found the scent I pick up when smoking it is markedly different than the scent others have.  Mind you, my cohort loves my cigar smoking, so her opinion is a bit biased.  And while Robin doesn’t get descriptive, she will say if the cigar “smells good” or “smells sweet” or “smells strong” or “smells nasty”.  The cigar “smelled good”, and I have to concur from my side. It wasn’t a harsh, dirty old man cigar scent.  It was a very mild scent, reminding you of why you loved it when Grandpa smoked his nickel cigars in the day.  It had that toasty, woodsy scent that is alluring.

Now to the real reason you’re smoking that stogie, the taste.  While many will think that smoking ANYTHING is akin to just chewing the discarded ashes and butts, I disagree. To each their own.  Like a wine, a cigar will have a different taste dependent on it’s tobacco, how it’s rolled, the earth it’s grown in, and lord knows what else.  It can invoke flavors of wood, cocoa, leather, earth and the like.  The Griffin was a very smooth flavor.  It wasn’t necessarily “creamy” when you roll the smoke around in your mouth, but it was light.  Good lord, DONT INHALE!  

Early on I definitely got flavors of cedar wood.  It wasn’t harsh, like when your brother is grilling and he uses wood chips and forgot to soak them in water, causing your eyes to burn and lungs to scream in pain.  It was a very mild taste that didn’t linger on the mouth (not a long finish, if it was a wine).  The flavor profile didn’t change much throughout the cigar, except perhaps at the end.  I’d say after the first 3rd was done, I noticed a bit of chocolate/cocoa in the taste.  It was still a very mild, flavor underneath the cedar wood, but it was noticeable.

The last 3rd of the cigar smoked a tad hotter, given that it was less distance between the burning foot and the draw.  However, this didn’t make the smoke harsh or unpleasant as sometimes happens.  The flavor did change a little, but it remained a smooth, mild cigar.  I couldn’t put a finger on the taste, so I’ll chalk it up to the heat causing the flavor to appear differently.

All in all The Griffin is a great mild smoke.  It’s a light to medium bodied cigar that has a nice scent with a great flavor.  It’s ash, as you can see from the photo above,  is a light grey color and holds well.  I had about an inch and a half of ash on the end before it fell off.  And for those who don’t smoke cigars, you want to keep a bit of ash, unlike flicking it off a cigarette.  The ash keeps the cigar cool, helping it to burn evenly and as mentioned before, taste good.

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