Cusano P1 week, revisited.
j0z3r
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 9,403
Ok, So I've been posting each night this week with a different vitola from the Cusano P1 line, which is a value driven line that offers up very good quality and tremendous bang for your buck. I'm gonna try and give a breakdown of the different sizes in the order I smoked them in an attempt to consolidate my impression of this line.
7/7/08: Torpedo. This was the single disappointment of the bunch. The cigar lit well and burned even, but after the promising first few puffs it lost all flavor. I don't know what the cause of this could have been, and quite frankly I'm surprised after how good the others have been. This one had a fairly strong cocoa flavor right away, and that's all it had as the flavors abruptly ceased leaving me with a cigar that tasted like cardboard. hopefully a fluke, but for now I give it a 7/10.
7/8/08: Corona. This was my favorite of the line, it offered up some good complexity, a veritable banquet of flavors and the superb construction that the entire line offers. This cigar started with a nice cocoa flavor that seemed to be present in the line as a whole. It progressed with a bit of nuttiness with a light grassy flavor, the good kind of grassy, almost like the scent of sweet hay. And as it burned it picked up a nice flavor of coffee that faded into a robust leather on the finish. This was a stellar offering, and I'd give it 9/10.
7/9/08: Cafe Robusto (5x36). This is a little cigar, but it gives a good kick, probably the second strongest in the line in my opinion. Again almost flawless construction, the draw was a bit on the loose side and the burn required minimal attention. As I said, this one carried a bit of strength and was more straight forward with flavor, with leather dominating the palate and a nice cocoa undertone right along with it. A good short smoke, and a solid 8.5/10.
7/10/08: Robusto. This one brought back a bit more flavor and was more mellow than the Cafe Robusto. Again, construction was very good, the cigar drew perfectly and the burn required no help. As with the others, this one started with cocoa and a slight leathery undertone. The cocoa never really went away, but it did give way a bit to a note of cedar and some sweet nutty flavors about halfway through. Another nice offering from the P1 line and an 8.5/10 from me.
7/11/08: Churchill. Finally, the coup de grâce of P1 week, and what a way to end not only a long week, but also a particularly long and hard day. At first I was a bit wary of how this cigar would perform as the first few puffs yielded very little smoke and even less flavor, and in fact it was not until the first inch had been smoked that the flavors came alive. This cigar offered up some good complexity and progressed through several flavor phases. It started with the lovely flavor of cocoa with a sweet cedar undertone. As the second inch was reached, the cocoa gave way to a stronger flavor of wood and just a touch of pepper. Around the halfway point, the cigar began to take on a nutty character with some nuances of leather, and in the last third the leather dominated the experience bringing with it a stronger, spicier pepper. This cigar had a superb build in intensity and was never unpleasant, I feel it is also the best constructed vitola in the line. This one gets a 9/10 as well.
My overall impression is that being a value driven line, the Cusano P1 offers up a very good quality cigar that could easily sell for 2x the list price and is a tremendous bang for your buck. My favorites were the Corona and the Churchill, I feel these two vitolas represent the best of what the P1 line has to offer, and I would recommend these to anyone looking for a good cigar with a great price tag. So what are you waiting for? Go an' get you some!
Joe
7/7/08: Torpedo. This was the single disappointment of the bunch. The cigar lit well and burned even, but after the promising first few puffs it lost all flavor. I don't know what the cause of this could have been, and quite frankly I'm surprised after how good the others have been. This one had a fairly strong cocoa flavor right away, and that's all it had as the flavors abruptly ceased leaving me with a cigar that tasted like cardboard. hopefully a fluke, but for now I give it a 7/10.
7/8/08: Corona. This was my favorite of the line, it offered up some good complexity, a veritable banquet of flavors and the superb construction that the entire line offers. This cigar started with a nice cocoa flavor that seemed to be present in the line as a whole. It progressed with a bit of nuttiness with a light grassy flavor, the good kind of grassy, almost like the scent of sweet hay. And as it burned it picked up a nice flavor of coffee that faded into a robust leather on the finish. This was a stellar offering, and I'd give it 9/10.
7/9/08: Cafe Robusto (5x36). This is a little cigar, but it gives a good kick, probably the second strongest in the line in my opinion. Again almost flawless construction, the draw was a bit on the loose side and the burn required minimal attention. As I said, this one carried a bit of strength and was more straight forward with flavor, with leather dominating the palate and a nice cocoa undertone right along with it. A good short smoke, and a solid 8.5/10.
7/10/08: Robusto. This one brought back a bit more flavor and was more mellow than the Cafe Robusto. Again, construction was very good, the cigar drew perfectly and the burn required no help. As with the others, this one started with cocoa and a slight leathery undertone. The cocoa never really went away, but it did give way a bit to a note of cedar and some sweet nutty flavors about halfway through. Another nice offering from the P1 line and an 8.5/10 from me.
7/11/08: Churchill. Finally, the coup de grâce of P1 week, and what a way to end not only a long week, but also a particularly long and hard day. At first I was a bit wary of how this cigar would perform as the first few puffs yielded very little smoke and even less flavor, and in fact it was not until the first inch had been smoked that the flavors came alive. This cigar offered up some good complexity and progressed through several flavor phases. It started with the lovely flavor of cocoa with a sweet cedar undertone. As the second inch was reached, the cocoa gave way to a stronger flavor of wood and just a touch of pepper. Around the halfway point, the cigar began to take on a nutty character with some nuances of leather, and in the last third the leather dominated the experience bringing with it a stronger, spicier pepper. This cigar had a superb build in intensity and was never unpleasant, I feel it is also the best constructed vitola in the line. This one gets a 9/10 as well.
My overall impression is that being a value driven line, the Cusano P1 offers up a very good quality cigar that could easily sell for 2x the list price and is a tremendous bang for your buck. My favorites were the Corona and the Churchill, I feel these two vitolas represent the best of what the P1 line has to offer, and I would recommend these to anyone looking for a good cigar with a great price tag. So what are you waiting for? Go an' get you some!
Joe
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