Arandoza Cigars Blue Label

Just a few weeks ago an unsuspecting package arrived on the doorstep of the Dojo, no it wasn’t a cute orphan baby left to raise as the next great Cigar Ninja. Instead it was a sample pack of Arandoza Cigars Blue Label robustos. Why do they call these “Blue Label” you ask? Well, they have a blue label, duh! 🙂 These Nicaraguan puros are produced for Arandoza Cigars by Erik Espinosa in the La Zona Factory therefore naturally, I was both excited and intrigued to taste this 5×52 robusto. The blue label is a Habano wrapped cigar and it’s a rusty brown color with a nice oily looking finish.

Not to be too nit-picky but I would recommend Arandoza upgrade the band on this cigar as it’s rather bland with very little detail. But hey, you don’t typically smoke the band so I wont be too critical here. But still…. shelf appeal does have an effect on consumers (even lil’ol me). UPDATE: Since this review the Arandoza Blue Label cigar band has been updated to a more fancy looking band.

The first thing you will notice after cutting and taking a pre-light draw is the Arandoza features a PERFECT DRAW typical of all the Espinosa made cigars (that’s why I love the cigars that come out of this factory). After toasting and lighting I am greeted with a very pleasant pecan and woodsy flavor. Another thing I like is the oily, chalky quality to the smoke. I like a cigar where you can chew the smoke, and with the Arandoza you can really gnaw on it.

The Arandoza is a fairly quick burning smoke but in this case it was perfect because I didn’t have two hours to spare. It’s good to have cigars in your collection that are long burning as well as short burning so you are prepared for every circumstance.

As I worked my way down the Arandoza the pecan flavor persisted and in fact the nuttiness of the flavor increased. The finish on the smoke has a subtle sweet carmel quality to it which made this Ninja smile. This cigar never crosses the medium body mark which makes it a nice early afternoon smoke. If you have never retrohaled a cigar this is your chance as the Arandoza is smooth enough to retrohale all day long which of course enhances the flavors.

The burn on the Arandoza was a tad uneven but never caused the cigar to underperform in anyway. The pecan flavor never faded and clearly was the strongest note for this cigar although towards the very end I actually picked up a slight pepperoni pizza flavor (maybe I was just hungry).

Would I smoke this Cigar Again? For just $6 bucks and with such a perfect draw I would gladly smoke this cigar again. People talk about “yard gars” all the time and I can see this being a perfect cigar to smoke when planting flowers with the spouse. In fact, with such a smooth flavor profile your spouse might even want to give it a try.

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