Vegas Robaina Unicos

Description

You ever have one of those nights?When the planets line up just right, and the cards do actually begin to fall your way for once?

But I’m talking abouta poker night where the room is heavy not so much with old felt and lose, but something more classy. It was a week ago last Tuesday, when my buddy Sal — the sort of guy who tends to come in with basement shelf fare he snags upon closeout — arrived at my house carrying an afterthetrainrobber looking mug it told all aroundA small while back. He didn’t say a word. He simply deposited a cedar box on the table — you know, one that smells of that unmistakeable old Cuban nose when you barely see its seal.

We were celebrating. Sal’s youngest had recently graduated from an Abram Lincolnesque grad school, and this time the stakes were a bit more than our usual nickel-and-dime game. I have, for sure, smoked my share of cigarettes and have watched many a man I know try to prove themselves with pretty labels. But when I cracked that lid, Icaught a flash of those colorado-hued wrappersof always rideor die darlings that Id not seen the likes of in the flesh for like maybeeeeeee years. It was a box of VegasRobaina Unicos. I put my cards down. The game could have been scheduled later; the smoke couldn’t.

There’s just something about resting back, holding a Piramide and thinking of all the lengths you’ve gone to in order to earn your seat at that table. It’s a shape that demands respect and as I reached in to pull out a whole one, feeling its solid weight — well, at that moment I was aware my evening was about to get significantly better. And it wasn’t just cards from then on, but a little bit of history from the province of Pinar del Río. I excised the head, cold-drew and found that same salty earth on my tongue. I turned to Sal. “Fuck the flop,Sal. You already won the night.”

That smoke? The Vegas Robaina Unicos. It’s not just a cigar…it’s an homage to the man his brother Universal declared had cultivated “the greatest wrappers on earth.” If you’re going to spend90 minutes of your life on one stick, it had better be one that has a story to tell.

The Specs

Construction: The Hand-Feel

I’ll tell you this, the first thing I noticed aboutthe Unicoswas texture. You know, when you rub a piece ofine silk and there’s just that little bit of grain to i? That’s how thisColorado wrapper smoked. It’s smooth, all right, but it has a toothiness that makes you believe it wastouched by people who give a damn. The Piramide shape — some purists refer to it as a torpedo (which is not wrong) and a campana or belicoso — but, at the factory, it’s a Único — is an artist’s conception. It has a sharp taper and tightly wound foot but is not abrick.

I’ve smoked my fair share of Cubans that were rolled by a guyhis first day on the job,but this one wasn’t bad at all. It had good heft in myhand. Nomushy spots, no odd lumps. When I gave it a littlesqueeze, there was the right amount of “give.” And you know whena cigar is living? That’s this. So now to the pre-light draw (as it was a tease…quell surprise) lotsha, hay, some salinity and there was incredibly strong floral note which made me think of a humidor sitting in a room with an abundance of dried wildflowers. It’s the kind of build that makes you want to take it easy with the torch. You don’t light the damn thing merely to have it be lit; youinvite it in — to start.

Flavor Profile: A Three-Act Play

The First Third: The Handshake

When itwas glowing, the first few draws were shockingly civilized. I was braced for a gut punch and received instead a hearty handshake of chocolate and leather. It’s a deep, rich cocoa not that sugary business but sort of baking-chocolateyou’d stumble upon in an upscale pantry by which I mean dark yet mild. After about 10 minutes, a savory clove-like spice started doing pirouettes around the edges. There was no bite;just… there. The smoke output was massive. I’m talking about thick, creamy trails of smoke that sat around the poker table like some sort of low-hangingfog. My chums were quarrelling that they couldn’t see my bluff and I never fussed about it.

PartII: The Sweet Spot

By the second third, strength was starting to build for me. This is where the Vegas Robaina DNA really starts to be present. That salty hit I’d had on the cold draw came back to me in spades, but was up against a lovely warm earthiness. It’s the smell of summer after a hard rain, on the ground. Then, boom — I have this cashew creaminess.” It’s weird, right? You’re smoking tobacco and you think your putting in a mouth full of salted nuts. The floral tones ofthe #% hangover around, keeping everything a little too plop to nevermind. It is, instead, a shifting transition — and if you are not already staring a cyclical soul-sister dish of its elsewhere on the menu tout-de-suite, you’ll miss how smoothly itmoves from note to note. I examined the ash — a fat, light gray spike that hung on for nearly two inches. Solid.

The LastThird: The Big Finish

By the time I reachedthe final couple of inches, the cigar was in high gear.” It was certainly toward the “full” end of the scale but never got harsh. The cacao subside to make spacefor a hot cinnamon spice. Okay, now let’s clear something up; this isn’t the kind of peppery, bitey spice that makes you feel flames shooting out yourretrohale. It’s a “warm kitchen” spice. It felt cozy. The creaminess went all the way to the end, which I’m assuming (I didn’t measure) was because of high-lip stock-ratio in such a big stick. I smoked it down to,down to the nub,until my very fingerprints started burning. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s that kind of finish, a crisp nuttiness that makes you just about want another slap right now — even though if your head answers it will say ‘no. ’ </p>

Pairing: What’s in the Glass?

So I understand it, there would be a lot of men looking to sip on a heavy bourbon with something so hearty smoking away but, Guess what?

Research says it works with red wine, so who am I to argue? I was knocking back a heavy SpanishRioja wine in the poker game. To my surprise, the wine’s tannins made an excellent companion to that leather & clove in the first third. It cut through the creamy priority of that middle third and cleared my palate for a puff.

If you don’t like wine then try a good dark rum — something that’s a bit aged.

The Verdict

So, what’s the bottom line? The Vegas Robaina Unicos is a “specialoccasion” stick that makes no fuss about itself. Itsnamesake is Alejandro Robaina, who was to Cuban tobacco basically what George Washington was to your sixth-grade history book. It’s not the most sexy of names in Habanos it doesn’t flaut the ‘look at me’ apparel of a Cohiba but in my book its a much more rewarding smoke.

It’s a 90-minute commitment. Don’t rush it. The perfect smoke in your life when you have time, or when you don’t but you make time. It is uniform, itdepartmentsright.codorful, and ithassoul. If you can get abox, get it. If a friend passes one to you during the poker game, just be sure it’s your turn to get the next round. You’re getting thegood end.

That night at the poker table I didn’t win a lot of money. Hell, I think Sal fucked me for about fiftylarg. But I didn’t feel like a loser as I sat with that Unicos nub smoldering in the ashtray and the taste of cashew and cinnamon hanging around on my breath. Not one bit. Solid night. Solid smoke.