Review of Casa Magna Cigar

The Casa Magna Colorado Robusto was Cigar Aficionado's top cigar of the year for 2008. At that time, this cigar was a relatively unknown, non-Cuban, and modestly priced surprise. I reviewed the Casa Magna in a different vitola for About.com back in 2010, but for this review, I'm going with the Robusto (5½ x 52).

Casa Magna Colorado cigars are Nicaraguan puros from Manuel Quesada and Nestor Plasencia. Despite all the past accolades, the Robusto size is still modestly priced at about $31 per 5-pack, which works out to an average of only $6.20 per stick!

The cigar began with a very pleasant rich and naturally sweet tobacco taste. The draw was a little firm, but not too tight. The primary flavors of earth, cocoa and leather quickly developed, with just barely a hint of spice in the background. According to my old review notes, the taste of pepper was more prevalent at the start of the 2010 Toritos vitola compared to the current Robusto, which is the subject of this review. However, both cigars were well-balanced and full of flavor without being too strong. The Robusto held a long ash and had a burn that was mostly even. One minor touch-up light was applied after about 45 minutes. It took me an hour to smoke the cigar down to 2½ inches remaining, when it went out by itself.

Similar to my review of the Toritos in 2010, I rate the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto with a very good 4 points on a 5-point scale. It is not surprising that this cigar made the list of Top 25 cigars of 2008, but it is still somewhat of a surprise that it was ranked the Number One cigar in the world. Nonetheless, the Casa Magna Colorado Robusto is still a very good cigar that everyone should try at least once, not only for the experience of smoking a former Number One rated cigar, but also for being able to enjoy a full and well-balanced smoke at a very modest price. That's a no-brainer.