Wrapper: Mexican San Andrés
Binder: Nicaraguan (Jalapa & Esteli)
Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero
Size: 5 x 50 “Robusto”
Body: Full
Price: $8.90 (2016) $12.00 (2026)
Humidor Time: 2 Months
Dry Box Time: 48 Hours

BACKGROUND:
Factory: Tabacaleras Aroma de Jalapa
As it has become a regular practice with the EZ brand, production is limited to a small run.
800 boxes: Robusto
300 boxes: Toro
200 boxes: Lancero
Manufactured by Noel Rojas.
I really love everything that Kyle Hoover and Chris Kelly produce. You know that already if you read me with any regularity. They, clearly, have a magic fairy wand that turns their blends into something special.

DESCRIPTION:
I chose the Robusto to review so I can savor the Toro for another time.
The wrapper is only oily in bright sunlight. Indoor lighting gives it a bland matte finish. Probably due to its sandpaper toothiness.
The color…a syrupy brown. Seams are visible but tight. Lots of veins that create a mottled appearance.
The triple cap is visible but flawless in its construction.

AROMAS AND COLD DRAW NOTES:
From the shaft, I smell cumin curry pepper, cedar, chocolate ice cream soda, nuts, and honeysuckle.
From the clipped cap and the foot, I smell far eastern cooking spices, chocolate milk shake, cream, strong leather…like from a new fancy car, almonds, and cedar.
The cold draw presents flavors of hay, chocolate malt, cream, mixed nuts, cedar, charred oak, and ghost pepper.

FIRST THIRD:
And now for the fun part.
The draw is a bit tight. Probably because I dry boxed for two days in humidity higher than my humidor and it swelled a bit. Out comes the cigar awl.
That helps a lot. Flavors exude like newly ground peanut butter when the draw is clean.

First up to bat is a quickly growing red pepper that explodes into a pepper bomb. My kind of blend. Don Pepin’s early cigars used to do that with a few months humi time. I loved those blends.

Following the pepper is mild milk chocolate, marzipan, cashew, creaminess, peanuts, cedar, molasses, and grilled meat.
There is some chocolate malt.

SECOND THIRD:
Smoke time is 20 minutes.
The cigar seems to be smoking too quickly.

Things pick up at this point. Up til now, the first third was surprisingly subtle and nearly bland. Very unusual for an EZ blend. Usually, it bursts out of the gate and transition after transition occurs. Not this first third.
The char line is doing a nice job of behaving itself.
The flavors are much stronger and definitive.

Because I figure it’s my fault the flavors are not exuberant, I just may put a match to the Toro when I finish the Robusto. A short break and back to it.
Or just maybe the Maduro doesn’t impress me. There is something missing in the blend.

The halfway point is upon me. Smoke time is 30 minutes.

There is a fruity strawberry preserves element now. Very sweet. Then a tin roof sundae: vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and Spanish peanuts.

I just emailed Bryan to ask him to confirm how long he had the cigar in his humidor before he sent it to me. Confirmed.
He also confirmed that he and a friend smoked one and thought the blend was just average.

The strength is only mild/medium. That’s part of the problem. The cigar is described, officially, as full body. Not even close.

I read one review that doled out every flavor known to man and beyond. What am I missing? What did he smoke that I’m not?

With 2” to go, the strength hits medium body.

Flavors are better. The charred meat and the creaminess are much more prevalent now.
The spiciness is gone. So is the nuttiness.
This will be the first time I disappoint Kyle and Chris. I am sorry.

LAST THIRD:
Smoke time is 40 minutes.
Chocolate returns. The sweetness is back.

The last 1-5/8” will be the All My EX’s Maduro’s redemption.
I hate to utter these words, but the All My EX’s Maduro by Ezra Zion Cigar Company is just an ordinary every day cigar blend.
A first.

I just reviewed the Blessed Leaf Theophany and gave it a 99!

Kyle and Chris are my buddies. But I owe it to the people who read me to be honest and truthful. I hope this review doesn’t end our relationship. In my heart, I feel it won’t. But I feel really bad about this.

The last third is a big improvement over the first two thirds but I’m grasping at straws here.
Strength finally hits medium/full.
The blend should have hit this strength a long time ago.
The cigar ends with a whimper. This is a major bummer.

RATING: 80

August 22, 2026 Update: This was my all-time favorite EZ blend. Until this review. I’ve tried a few since but came away with the same reaction. The cigar is just not the same as the first release in 2014. This happens a lot with popular and limited releases. There is no shortage of manufacturers that sell cigars that cut and snip around the edges to save dough and hope you purchase based upon fond memories. One that comes to mind is Southern Draw. I was the hugest fanboy for years. But since the owner got seriously ill with Covid in 2020, there’s been a shift in the time continuum.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS