Frank Correnti Robusto
Origin: Cuban made in Canada
Size: 4.75 x 50
Wrapper: Cuban Claro

From F Correnti Cigars Ltd:
Redencion Cigars are constructed entirely from Cuban long filler which has been aged for an average of five years. The blend is consistent throughout the line and it is the Wrapper Shade which determines the 'Body'.

From Mindless Productions:
Frank Correnti Cigars is, so they say, the only place outside of Cuba that makes Cuban cigars. (They import the tobacco and roll it into cigars from their turn-of-the-century brick factory.) Walking into the factory is like stepping back in time, and sitting in an over-stuffed leather sofa in their cozy, wood-beamed factory enjoying one of their cigars is pure heaven.

Reviewed by: Gary Anderson
Date: July 2006
Notes:

I have been unsuccessful in my Internet search for a review of Frank Correnti Cigars. This may quite possibly be the first such review.

I had been viewing the Frank Correnti Cigar web site http://www.correnticigars.com for weeks. It is a quaint site with no mention of mail order. I'm a self confessed mouse-potato and given the opportunity my purchase would have been via mail order, which would have deprived me of the day's experience.

Frank Correnti Cigars is located in the heart of downtown Toronto. The street and shops are in an older part of town and it was a nostalgic experience. Frank's is located at an end of an alleyway. There wasn't a lot of activity in the 4.5-million population city at 8 30 am and it felt odd walking alone down an alleyway. As soon as I opened the door to the shop I was hit with the distinctive odor of tobacco. Up the wooden stairs I went, the lights were low and the place was a little on the dark side. There was a woman in an office that came out to great me. I said I wanted to look at some cigars. The woman led me to a room that had but a few shelves of tin cans on it. She opened a few cans and they were all empty. The lady told me that all they had left was whatever (I think she said Lena) is rolling now. We walked the wooden floors to a second woman that was there rolling cigars. She peeked into a cardboard box that the woman was putting the freshly rolled weed! And said to me Robosto's. I asked how much? To which she replied $9.75 each. I said how many is there? She replied 9. I said I will take them.

I couldn't wait to smoke one of these things, man at 4 7/8" that 50-ring gage really made that stick look fat. They were way to wet to smoke just yet and when I arrived home I left them out on the counter to dry for a while.

Later that evening after diner I grabbed hold of one of the Correnti's. Though only a few hours old, Correnti age all their tobacco for five-years. My cigar cutter just managed to scrap enough of the cap off of it to allow me to smoke it.

The Claro wrapper actually had a greenish hue to it but was smooth with little veining. The stick was still pretty moist and it took a bit to get it going. I think the moisture was probably accountable for the canoeing that also ensued. The taste was medium and good.

Ash was whitish gray and would have developed well hadn't it been for the canoeing. The draw was perfect with good volume of smoke. The only thing that I didn't like was that I seemed to be getting a taste of Honduras (it may have just been my imagination!?).

Body was medium and I tend to prefer a little more full body smoke. Taste was too short as was the time of the smoke, probably due to its short length 4 7/8".

All in all a real fine smoke for less than 10-bucks. I give it a 7 out of 10 which is exactly what I rate a Montecristo #2.