Wrapper: Honduran (Corojo seed only grown on the Christian Eiroa farm)
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Honduran
Size: 5 x 50 “Robusto”
Body: Full
Price: $5.00

Even the Asylum web site which contains info on the original Asylum, the Nicaraguan puro Asylum 13, Schizo, and the Ogre; is not up to speed yet by including this newest of the blends.

And as it debuted at the 2013 IPCPR trade show a little over a month ago, there is little info about it.

Clearly, this is a co-project by Christian Eiroa and Tom Lazuka…the founders of the company. And the small bio, on their web site, talks about a take no prisoners approach and being bold, etc. I must assume that the new blend is blended at the Tabacos Rancho Jamastran factory in Honduras. Owned by Eiroa.
While the original 13, was a Nicaraguan puro, this time around the cigar is a Honduran puro. In fact, the Corojo seed was grown on Christian Eiroa’s family tobacco farm.

The Asylum 13 Authentic Corojo comes in ginormous sizes: 6 x 60, 6 x 70, and 6 x 80 all in the $6-$9 range. I am reviewing the robusto which is a plain ol’ 5 x 50.

And like Woody Allen always said, is that he would pick up a new book and read the last page first, just in case he died before finishing it. While I do not plan on dying during this review, I will spoil it for you and tell you I think this is an excellent cigar.

On to the cigar. The construction is very good, very solid. The wrapper is a medium brown color with lots of small veins. Seams are invisible. I don’t know if it is the influence of the shiny copper colored cigar band; but the cigar also seems to have a copper glow to it. There is a nice oily sheen present and the cigar feels the tiniest bit toothy.

It also has a small tissue paper condom at the foot.

I choose to use my Cuenca back stop cutter and find aromas of cocoa, cinnamon, spice, brown sugar, citrus, and toast.
Time to light up.

The first puffs are sweet tobacco, some spice, and some zesty lemon. In a flash, the spice ratchets up and becomes very powerful. The draw is a bit tight, which I expected, after feeling how jam packed the stick is.

I knock the cigar out of the ashtray because the sound of the phone ringing startles me. So I don’t have a nice square ash to photograph. Which by the way is a lousy day for photos. We just got slammed by a big thunderstorm last night and it couldn’t be any drearier outside. No sunlight. And I hear thunder not so far away. So I apologize for my third rate photos today.

The char line is the tiniest bit wavy.

The red pepper is out front. Behind it is the lemon zest. The cigar is very tangy and spicy at the same time. The cocoa aroma does not manifest itself into a flavor. The body is classic medium at this point. This stick is a very slow burner. For me personally, I cannot fathom sticking an 80 ring gauge in my open maw. I don’t care how much time I spent in San Quentin, I can’t do it.

The sweet tobacco becomes more prevalent. And the cigar becomes earthier. It is nice to taste a different flavor profile; by that, I mean, not the typical Nicaraguan profile. No disrespect to the Nic sticks but they tend to have the same flavors over and over; no matter how well they are presented.

This stick reminds of the Dominican Davidoff Golden Band Awards 2012 cigar ($18) I recently reviewed. In that, the emphasis is on the tobacco flavor, and not so much on the ancillary flavors.

The first third comes to an end and requires a minor touch up.

The spiciness calms down a bit. And some alternate flavors are exposed; such as a bit of cocoa, buttered toast, and some nuttiness. I don’t detect any cedar of leather flavors.

The cocoa continues to get stronger. And so does the lemon zest. It is a very citrusy cigar. Maybe even some orange in the background.
The earthiness becomes stronger. Making this cigar very rich and sophhisticated. The body is still at high medium. The different online stores describe it as either medium/full or full bodied. As I am only at the halfway point, if it intends to become full bodied, the last third will be its base jump.

The cigar is very flavorful now. The complexity has sunk in by morphing the flavors into a lump. A nice lump. Creaminess shows up and dismisses the buttery toast element. The spiciness is way in the background now. A lot of spice can mask a cigar and make the cigar smoker think the stick is stronger than it really is.

The dreariness is so overwhelming that it looks like sundown outside; and the sunlight I depend so heavily on for my photos, is totally non-existent. It is almost dark outside. Can’t catch a break. We haven’t had much of a summer here in Milwaukee and my photos reflect that lack of sunlight. And my crap camera has a crap flash making the subject look artificial and ridiculous. So I am at the mercy of the weather gods.

The correction of the char line has helped but there is still a bit of waviness that I will just leave alone now.

The last third begins with the same flavor profile. The citrusy flavor remains the main driver. Earthiness and rich tobacco flavor are right behind. The cocoa seems to have disappeared. But even with a shortage of bold flavors, the cigar is very interesting and enjoyable. Not every cigar has to be a flavor bomb. Clearly, the blending of this cigar, by using strictly Honduran leaves, had a purpose. It was to steer away from the two Asylum blends before it. I give Mr. Eiroa his props for being so bold.

This is what I call a grown up cigar. The focus of its profile is richness and finesse. All derived from the Corojo blend. There is no apple pie flavor or any of the other Nicaraguan flavors so common to the region.

The really nice thing about Eiroa cigars is that they need very little humidor time before they are ready to smoke. This is a huge departure from the original Camacho blends. I haven’t smoked a Camacho that didn’t need a few months to age properly. That is old school. And the Asylum group of cigars is New Breed blending.

As the last third burns down, there is a resurgence of the red pepper. It makes a giant leap for mankind. The creaminess, which had become a background flavor, leaps with it. The citrus moves towards the back of the line.

It is during the last third that the cigar finds its full body profile. It went from high medium to very full bodied quickly.

The cigar band comes off like a dream leaving no glue residue. I should add that the band is spotted with what looks like little squashed skulls. They could also be some sort of flower. Actually, the look like poppies.

I finish the cigar totally sated. This is a departure for the line. And nothing like I expected. It is a nice change to find that the terrific tobacco is the main focus of the cigar’s flavor. Several flavors came and went with the tobacco goodness remaining static. And improving as it burned.
Sweetness returns toward the end. It seems the sweet spot is in the last third.

This is an excellent cigar and would love to have a box in my humidor. The price points are on the money; so to speak. As the robusto is my choice of sizes. I’ve never smoked a cigar with an 80 ring gauge and can’t imagine what that would be like. I’m guessing it would be similar to what the oral surgeon puts in your mouth to keep it wide open.

Fortunately, this is not a limited run so there should be plenty to go around. I have only one criticism of this cigar and that is the burn. I smoked one last night to be sure it could be reviewed and I had the same issues. Wavy is acceptable in my book. And minor touch ups is no big deal.

I applaud Christian Eiroa, and his team, for making a really good cigar and keeping the price down; which once more, shows that a cigar does not need a $10 price tag to be good. And so far, this stick has been as good, or better, than all the expensive cigars I have reviewed lately.
And as I prepare for my last photo, the rain begins and it is as black as night outside. Drat.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS