“We are the cigar for the majority cigar smoker, not the…corporate exec sitting in his big leather chair smoking a $20 cigar…You, the majority cigar smoker, are who we labor for.”

That’s the idea behind C&C Cigars, a new outfit that announced itself at the IPCPR Trade Show in July. Reading through the company’s website, you get the idea that C&C intends to position itself as a purveyor of premium cigars that won’t break the bank, and it hopes to win over cigar veterans who are looking for a solid values.

You’ll remember C&C’s owner, Joe Chiusano, as the former president of Cusano, a brand that ended up getting purchased by Davidoff in 2009. He and his team of former Cusano/Davidoff employees—including Jeff Aronson, Maurice Tisseur, and Shane Hays—have cooked up three premium lines that are handmade in the Dominican Republic: Corojo, Maduro, and Connecticut.

The Connecticut will ship towards the end of the month, and the Maduro and Corojo started hitting retailers in late October. Each blend is available in three sizes of 18-count boxes: Robusto (5 x 50), Toro (6 x 52), and Churchill (7 x 50). In keeping with C&C’s goal of value, the MSRPs on these cigars all fall in the $3.99 to $4.49 range.

The Corojo Robusto certainly doesn’t look like a smoke that costs less than $4. The samples I examined for this review each had clean, moderately oily Ecuadorian wrappers and nice triple caps. Underneath, the Dominican binder and filler tobaccos are packed in well enough to create a heavy, firm feel in the hand, yet carefully enough to yield a smooth draw. The pre-light aroma is earthy.

The first few lit puffs give off a smooth, oaky character with virtually none of the spice that I associate with corojo tobacco. After a half inch, though, a richer profile emerges. Notes include molasses, toast, graham, and a soft spiciness that lingers in the finish. As C&C says, “the spice sneaks up on you.” I’d have to agree.

While the flavors don’t really change from the first inch to the nub, they do tend to slowly increase in intensity throughout the smoke. Despite this amplification, the Corojo Robusto remains toward the lighter end of the medium-bodied range.

With these characteristics and outstanding physical properties, the C&C Corojo Robusto is a very good choice if you’re looking for a milder corojo that won’t break the bank. No, you won’t find a ton of complexity here. But even discerning smokers will agree that, for the money, this is a welcome addition to the market, one worthy of three stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

–Patrick A



photo credit: Stogie Guys