From Miami’s Little Havana comes La Tradition Cubana’s eponymous cigar in a robusto format. I smoked the Sabor Cubano a couple weeks ago and was very impressed, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a few of these. This is the original flagship cigar for Luis Sanchez, who started La Tradicion Cubana in 1995. (More info about the company can be found on the Sabor Cubano post.)

This standard size robusto comes equipped with an Ecuadorian wrapper, a Honduran binder, and filler from Nicaragua and the DR. Each cigar is wrapped in cedar before being packed in boxes of 25.

The LTC robusto is a solid stick with a uniform and nearly flawless claro wrapper. The cap is solid and well formed but a little jagged around the edges. A quick pre-light whiff reveals some grassy scents with a dose of barnyard.

The draw seems a little tight on these, but this didn’t really affect the cigar’s performance. A good volume of smoke was forthcoming; it just took a little more effort than I usually care to exert. The flavor of the first third was straight forward clean tobacco, with a smidegeon of pepper. The burn is fairly even thoughout and it leaves a solid ash. (Some reviewers have noted a flaky ash, but this was not my experience.) This is a mild bodied cigar with a mild to negligible aftertaste.

What is notable about this cigar is an outstanding aroma: it starts up with some pleasant cedar elements, but by the mid-point of the cigar the smoke is gloriously spicy. The woody theme continues from here, but it picks up something that almost smells like sandalwood. It’s quite a powerful scent which is nicely balanced by the mildness of the flavor. Unfortunately the flavor seems to wane after the mid-point and goes from slightly peppery to somewhat papery.

The LTC Robusto is worth a test drive if you enjoy mild but highly aromatic smoke. And like all of the cigars from La Tradicion it’s very reasonably priced at around 75 USD per box. The only downside is the mildness: if there were a little more steel to this stick I think I’d have a new goto cigar.