G. L. Pease Robusto

(3.12)
The chocolate brown wrapper leaf would make an overly bold statement if blended with a heavy hand, but if just the right amount is used, it provides an alluring spice, a suggestion of the richness of a great cigar, and a creamy texture to the smoke. A little Cyprian Latakia rounds out the flavors, and smooths the edges just enough. Ripe, red Virginia leaf provides a modest sweetness while giving a backbone to the body. A variety of Oriental tobaccos fill in the gaps. Robusto is complex, full flavored and spicy, yet very gentle on the tongue. It's perfect with the afternoon coffee, as a delicious finish to a wonderful meal, or as a stout companion throughout the day.
Notes: From GL Pease: For years, I've been intrigued by the idea of cigar leaf blends, but with one notable exception, nothing has really hit the mark for me, and the one that did, the celebrated Sobranie Virginia #10, has long been out of production. In mid-2000, I began flirting with different ideas, experimenting with different leaf, concocting prototypes, and quickly tiring of them, until, finally, I was shown samples of some exquisite maduro wrapper leaf that stimulated a new interest in finding my perfect cigar leaf blend. After months worth of experimental recipes, I zeroed in on the blend I'd been searching for, and Robusto was finally born. Robusto was introduced in November, 2002.

Details

Brand G. L. Pease
Series Original Mixtures
Blended By Gregory Pease
Manufactured By Cornell & Diehl
Blend Type Cigar Leaf Based
Contents Cigar Leaf, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia
Flavoring
Cut Coarse Cut
Packaging 2 ounce tin, 8 ounce tin
Country United States
Production Currently available

Profile

Strength
Medium to Strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild -> Overwhelming
Flavoring
None Detected
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
None Detected -> Extra Strong
Room Note
Tolerable
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnoticeable -> Overwhelming
Taste
Medium to Full
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Extremely Mild (Flat) -> Overwhelming

Average Rating

3.12 / 4
32

30

16

3

Reviews

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 81 Reviews
Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 21, 2008 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Very Pleasant
This one ain't named Robusto for nothing. Yikes, flavor out the wazoo and its a kind of taste that sticks with your palate deep into the evening... so, don't look for a hot night of kissing unless she smoked a bowl, too.

Robusto has a cigarish flavor that I enjoyed. I much prefer pipes, but from now on, this cool burning, heavy tasting blend will be my "cigar" when the urge for a stogie hits.

Thoroughly enjoyable and both of my thumbs are up.
28 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 07, 2004 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
This is not a duplicate of the sadly lamented Sobrania #10 Virginia, but may be a welcome replacement for it.

Appearance: Random cuts typical of GLP blends, mostly red, with some darker leaf, and a few greenish bits.

Aroma: Good rich Virginia base, with a hint of maduro cigar. A faint trace of Oriental, or is it my imagination?

Packing: As always, the cut lends itself to easy packing in any sized pipe that I?ve tried, from group 3 to 5. Unlike Raven?s Wing and Odyssey, Rubusto seems to need a slightly firmer pack, but YMMV.

Lighting: Takes flame quickly, but not too quickly. Starts burning evenly right away, just a slight tamp at the start and it?s ready to enjoy.

Initial flavor: The initial flavor varies, depending upon the pipe?s history. In a Latakia pipe, the Latakia is emphasized, and in a Va. pipe, the Va. sweetness is highlighted. The cigar leaf is noticeable right away, but never overbearing.

Mid-bowl: Cool, rich, and wonderful. Seems to stay lit well at a slow puffing pace. Nicely layered flavors of red virginia and maduro cigar on top, with latakia and oriental in the background as accents.

Finish: Burns to the bottom in a well behaved way, but too damned soon. No noticeable increase in harshness. Leaves a clean almost white ash, and a dry stem.

Summary: Another winner from Greg. I don?t know how to categorize this one, but that?s not the important issue. If you enjoy cigar leaf blends, this is one not to miss.

--
17 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Jan 24, 2003 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Tolerable
After reading about this new proposed addition on Mr. Pease's website last fall, I plead my case to him and he was kind enough to provide me with an ounce of his prototype which was close to the quality shipped out in December 2002. He gave me some insight into his new cigar leaf blend in our communications. I smoked it in a small bowl meerschaum and became immediately interested in this new cigar leaf blend. So I ordered several tins from C&D when it became commercially available late last year.

I've just smoked finished smoking a full two ounce tin in a medium Benton churchwarden (the "Big Ben" shape from Edward's I believe).

This blend is somewhat stout, as is described, but is not overwhelming or harsh at all. Nor is it hot, if you puff deliberately. It is completely natural in a stringy, shaggy cut. It is not a wet smoke. It has a base of virginia and some condimental leaf, and the cigar leaf is added in just the right proportion to let the cigar note stand out but still be balanced by the rest of the tobaccos.

Yes, you can taste the cigar leaf, and surprisingly the blend -- even given the mix of other tobaccos -- is suggestive of a medium cigar experience. (I smoke cigars only on occasion, but know what that's like.) It's just not as strong as a cigar can be. Nor would I imagine most would want it to be that full.

In comparison, it is fuller than Fox's Bankers, has more of a cigar note but less strength from the Latakia than Robert Lewis' 123 blend, it is slightly more balanced but not as full as Mogano (nor is the finish as strong), and is slightly more complex than Connoisseur's Special Reserve. All good blends too. I understand that this new blend is supposedly modeled somewhat from an old, extinct Sobranie virginia blend, which I have heard others rave about but have never personally experienced.

When I first opended the new tin, it had only a month or so of aging. It did leave my palate a bit dry at first, but after a few more weeks it was more balanced, and remained on the stout side as intended. I intend to age a number of tins, but even the newest of tins is very smokable, tasty, and kind to the tongue. Quite an achievement! I promised Mr. Pease a good review if I liked Robusto, and I do so this it it. Recommended to folks who want a definite cigar note in a natural blend, medium to full.
12 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Apr 17, 2012 Medium to Strong Very Mild Full Pleasant to Tolerable
For my first review (and many thanks to all the reviewers who have taken the trouble and time to construct this wonderful resource that has been a help and a joy to me) I have picked a blend that I consider to be seriously undervalued.

Blending cigar leaf into a well balanced pipe tobacco is very tricky but Greg Pease has produced a great smoke here in what was an early showing of his probably unique ability as a blender. Other producers have created great and varied ranges of tobaccos but over longer periods of time and much more favourable circumstances. I think in reviewing tobacco from a range one tends to have an overview of the range and that is my mine upfront. Having said that my view of the Greg Pease range is not uncritical and inevitably in so characterful a group I seriously dislike a couple I have tried but also found them instructive about tobacco and interesting. Robusto was by no means love at first puff as it took over half a tin for the flavour to fully settle and round out in my pipe - while otherwise a low maintenance tobacco it does not fall into an obvious type so benefits from a dedicated pipe. Once settled in it has a wonderful complex flavour with contrasting cocoa-cedar- mild leather balanced by raspberry-citrus-nectarine but dry (as against sweet), rather like a really good red wine. Having said this the flavours are subtle and do not distract from but enhance activities like reading - again rather like a really good wine not distracting from a great meal but enhancing it. The smoke is creamy and caresses the tongue without any bite; and even after 35 years of pipe smoking I have to confess to a bite prone tongue.

The distinct cocoa element at least reminds of Sobranie Reserve Blend Virginia Ready Rubbed of over 20 years ago but considerably better (more complex plus does not share the rather off putting room note). It therefore displaces that tobacco from my all time top five - the others are also sadly long out of production.

I give this tobacco the strongest recommendation to virtually any pipe smoker as the blend is well integrated with none of the components (including latakia) to the fore (obviously if you tend to smoke below medium strength start with a part filled smaller pipe).

One warning though if you return after a few hours to a half smoked pipe it can be a bit ashy but not necessarily unpleasant and even quite interesting.

In summary one of the all time great smokes a joy in good times and a solace in bad moments - above it does not just fill a slot in the rota but is fun to smoke.
11 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Oct 28, 2013 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
I really liked this blend, but I didn't love it. Nice Virginias in this. I wish Mr. Pease would have used a slightly "heavier hand" with the cigar leaf.
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 27, 2010 Medium Extremely Mild Medium to Full Tolerable
Aroma: Robusto resembles a nice Oriental-forward English like Squadron Leader or PS Balkan Supreme with an obvious Latakia presence. The cigar leaf is not noticeable at all in my tin (for some reason, mine was quite dry when opened), and was much more present in Key Largo.

Appearance: A higher percentage of olive-colored leaf than Key Largo, which I assume is the oriental. Key Largo is darker and does not show much evidence of this greenish leaf but then it's a flake, which means it was pressed, which means the various types of tobacco may have melded a bit more than with Robusto.

I took one pinch of tobacco and in a totally unscientific experiment, separated the various tobaccos from one another. No, I'm not obsessive-compulsive, in fact I'm a strong Myers- Briggs Perceiver, but my curiosity got the best of me. It looks to be very roughly equal parts Oriental, Virginia and cigar leaf, with a little Latakia to smooth it out.

Flavor: First, the results from the briar pipes: this blend is much more austere than Key Largo. The words “rich” and “smooth” do not come to mind. There is no subtlety here – Robusto is astringent and “dry”, as in wine tasting, meaning unsweet. It's quite spicy and if I allow a little to get into my nose it burns.

Now, this may not sound like a ravishing review out of the gate, but many of us like spicy mixtures. If you're one of them then Robusto will satisfy. If you like Ashton VSGs and certain SG ropes that have been utterly dried out, you'll like this. It's not as smooth as Key Largo, and it is significantly different to me in both taste and behavior in the pipe. It burns very easily and somewhat quickly, probably due to the very dry nature of this particular tin.

Now, stand back – the Meer tasting: absolutely amazing! I have never before experienced such a positive shift from a Meer. Normally it's the other way around for me – most tobaccos taste better to me in a briar, and I use a Meer mostly to get a good handle on the unadulterated flavors. But in my Meer the Robusto absolutely erupts into a smooth, rich, complex, wonderful smoke that I just couldn't get enough of - an incredibly tasty experience that puts Robusto right near the top of all the Pease blends I've had thus far.
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Feb 21, 2009 Medium to Strong None Detected Medium Pleasant to Tolerable
Been a cigar smoker for decades as well as a pipe. Used to be more cigars, but I've changed. Pipe smoking is cheaper and there is such a vast variety I've shifted to being only an occasional cigar smoker.

That said, Robusto is the Bomb; an atomic bomb, perhaps even thermonuclear! When I smoke this I make sure I have a comfy seat, a hot mug of java and no place to be or heavy equipment to operate. This is one to be savored over time and not hurried or pushed.

Deep, thick, chewy, dark, rich, brown then black. All those and more. Now I can smoke this in an oversized pipe, but made the mistake of having my first Robusto- fest in one. It almost won that first bout.

I like it strong, hot, smokey, stout, thick, rich and powerful. This never leaves me lacking for any of those. Thank you Mr. Pease, you done damn good with this beast of smoking pleasure.
9 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 21, 2016 Medium to Strong None Detected Very Full Pleasant to Tolerable
G. L. Pease - Robusto.

Up until now Key Largo was my favourite blend containing cigar leaf, but this has taken that position!

The tin contains coarse pieces and the moisture couldn't be any better. Even the smell from the unlit blend's full; I opened it this morning and couldn't wait to light a bowl once I'd took a whiff of it! The mixture's pretty even in colour; there's not much fluctuation, it's all dark brown.

I knew the second I lit my first bowl it was one for my favourite's list! I don't enjoy a heavy cigar flavour from my pipe, so this is perfect; any stereotypical cigar nuances are VERY light, the cigar leaf delicately seasons the smoke without domineering it. The cigar leaf isn't as quiet as the Latakia mind; I get a gentle woodiness from it but no smokiness. I find the Virginia leads, with the Oriental's adding a piquancy. The smoke seems quite cool in temperature and doesn't bite me. A bowl burns even and steady right from the start; judging by the size of the pieces I'd anticipated requiring a jet-flame but my trusty Zippo proved to have more than enough power.

The nicotine's medium to strong and the room-note's only a little better than tolerable.

In summary I'd describe this as a very meaty (rhetorical) smoke.....love it!

Highly recommended.
Pipe Used: Peder Jeppesen
PurchasedFrom: Gauntley's Nottingham U.K.
Age When Smoked: 8 months
8 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Nov 09, 2015 Medium to Strong None Detected Full Tolerable
I was given a sample of this from a friend of mine and just recently got around to trying it out. I liked it. It is a fairly stout blend and unlike many other blends with cigar leaf, I found the cigar leaf to be the star of the show. The Virginias help with the sweetness and the light use of latakia and oriental given a slightly exotic twist.

I have tried Key Largo from Pease and prefer this one to that as that one is more of a standard lat blend with some cigar leaf thrown in. YMMV If I want to smoke a cigar blend, then I want something different as it is usually intended to be a change up smoke for me anyway. This one does fit that description, but Not as much as C&D's Purple Cow or Billy Budd. I would put this one below those two but not by much.

This one lies between two and three stars for me, but admittedly, I smoked through the sample pretty quickly. I do intend to order more of this one and will revisit this review once I have had a chance to smoke a full tin.
6 people found this review helpful.
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Reviewed By Date Rating Strength Flavoring Taste Room Note
Sep 04, 2005 Medium None Detected Medium to Full Pleasant to Tolerable
This is not a duplicate of the sadly lamented Sobrania #10 Virginia, but may be a welcome replacement for it.

Appearance: Random cuts typical of GLP blends, mostly red, with some darker leaf, and a few greenish bits.

Aroma: Good rich Virginia base, with a hint of maduro cigar. A faint trace of Oriental, or is it my imagination?

Packing: As always, the cut lends itself to easy packing in any sized pipe that I?ve tried, from group 3 to 5. Unlike Raven?s Wing and Odyssey, Rubusto seems to need a slightly firmer pack, but YMMV.

Lighting: Takes flame quickly, but not too quickly. Starts burning evenly right away, just a slight tamp at the start and it?s ready to enjoy.

Initial flavor: The initial flavor varies, depending upon the pipe?s history. In a Latakia pipe, the Latakia is emphasized, and in a Va. pipe, the Va. sweetness is highlighted. The cigar leaf is noticeable right away, but never overbearing.

Mid-bowl: Cool, rich, and wonderful. Seems to stay lit well at a slow puffing pace. Nicely layered flavors of red virginia and maduro cigar on top, with latakia and oriental in the background as accents.

Finish: Burns to the bottom in a well behaved way, but too damned soon. No noticeable increase in harshness. Leaves a clean almost white ash, and a dry stem.

Summary: Another winner from Greg. I don?t know how to categorize this one, but that?s not the important issue. If you enjoy cigar leaf blends, this is one not to miss.
5 people found this review helpful.
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