El Baton Robusto - cigar review

El Baton cigar band

• Length: 5 inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan

Ninety five years ago, El Baton was hand rolled by J.C. Newman in Cleveland, OH. They used Cuban tobacco and sold the cigar for a nickel apiece. The brand disappeared with the introduction of machine-made cigars in the 1920’s.

Today’s El Baton is a Nicaraguan Puro rolled by the Fabrica de Tabacos San Rafael S.A. factory in Estelí. El Baton is packaged in black slide-lid boxes of 40 and comes in three sizes: Double Torpedo, Double Toro and Robusto. The cigar was first introduced in October 2008 and only came in the Double Torpedo vitola. The Double Toro and Robusto sizes were added around April of this year.

I picked up a pair of the robustos earlier this week. I had been meaning to try these and came across them while I was looking for new additions to my local B&M’s humidor. The cigars were selling for $5.75 each at this particular shop.

Normally, I’ll only smoke one cigar before writing a review. I figure most people will only buy one cigar if they are trying something new. If they like it, they will buy more.

I needed to smoke both of the El Baton’s before writing this up because this blend caught me by surprise. It is unlike any other J.C. Newman product I have smoked and I have smoked them all.

The El Baton has a good looking, dark brown wrapper with a few pronounced veins. The leaf itself had no blemishes and the cigar was firm to the touch. The cap clipped easily and after a short burn of the torch, I was on my way.

Now, here’s the first thing that caught me by surprise. On my very first exhale, there was a HUGE, powerful feeling of spice and pepper. It was almost too painful for my nose. I had to smoke the second cigar to see if I experienced the same thing and I did. It was only on the first puff though.

After that initial blast, this full bodied cigar brings forth flavors of cedar, coffee grounds and pepper. These are all very strong, very earthy flavors. There was a faint sweet taste on my lips at the finish.

In contrast to the dark wrapper, the ash on the El Baton was very white and held on for a good inch before dropping. The burn was very even and never required a touch up.

During the second half of the smoke, the cigar mellowed a bit and the flavor changed to a smooth coffee and cream while the strength and body stayed the same.

The cigar burned cool to the end, making it easy to nub.

The El Baton is a much different blend than I come to expect from J.C. Newman. I think it makes for a great alternative from their other brands and comes in at a very attractive price.

This is a great cigar and I would not hesitate to recommend El Baton to anyone.