AJ Fernandez New World Oscuro Robusto – Fantastic Start to WW3

Welcome to WW3. It's been a year and a week since I last wrote a review. And what a year it's been. Mal realised that she has better things to do than to edit hours of three middle-aged, overweight men droning on about cigars. For free. Who can blame her really? But now, I believe Adham is close to blackmailing another person on his team to do the editing. But we will be paying him this time. Sorry Mal.

What else? Omar isn't my boss anymore. Thank fucking God. He's taken his particular brand of corporate witchcraft elsewhere, some Japanese folks have him now bless them.. Adham is grumpier than ever, and we are all officially in our 30's. I think Omar is on his way out soon. Of his 30s, to his 40s. He's not dying or anything. 

Today I am smoking the last stick of my AJ Fernandez New World Oscuro in Robusto. Bought me a box of these in Doha duty free last summer, and man they've been great. I mean really great. I've loved this box. It's actually got me into a bit of an AJ Fernandez research obsession. Got the Toro sampler pack twice. The Toro was one of the first cigars I smoked and reviewed. I actually bought a new 'old' looking leather note book with weathered, yellowing pages and a leather binding to record my tasting notes of the cigars I would smoke. I thought it was cool and 'deep', mainly because I was jobless and slightly gay back then. I have a job now…

Oh and while we're on topic, Budget Jamie's into baking now. He bakes for the office once a week. Great bread, not gonna lie.  

Nose

Let's get stuck in. The nose. Interesting. In both my previous reviews, I got chocolate and barnyard. Not getting those in this one. Maybe I'm getting old. Or my nose isn't as sharp. Or I'm not as anal as I used to be. I am getting a sweetness, like a sickly, molasses kind of sweetness. And it's quite faint. This has been aging for ten or so months. 

FIrst Light

Fuck me this is smooth, it's almost erotic. Plumes of smoke - Great draw, slightly on the looser end, so need to watch out with the puffs. Cedar with a long pepper finish that crescendos and then lingers on your palate. This is nice. I've actually missed doing this.  Been reading Brandon Sanderson work for the better part of a year now, as my main form of entertainment. I’ve lost patience with TV, movies and shows. Everything is shitty now, or maybe it’s always been. I remember crying like a bitch watching Gladiator in the cinema when I was 10-11 years old. I tried watching it the other day, and it was fucking horrible. I know, great movie, Russel Crowe, Joker guy, how could you, blah blah blah. But try watching it again now after all the ADHD we all have from doom scrolling our sadness away at 2:41 am on a Wednesday night. It’s choppy as fuck. As I was saying, I’m well into the second book of the Stormlight Archive, and yes. Recommended read.

First Third – 15 minutes in

God this is good. Smooth as hell. Pepper is fainter now, and dark chocolate hits up front, then settles into a full-bodied tobacco / earth notes. Time for a bathroom break. These medium to full body cigars always had a way with my bowels. Let’s see if it will stay lit by the time I get back…. and it’s out. I blame myself. That took a while.

Second Third -45 minutes in

Flavors are getting more complex now. Sweet, creamy nutty notes are coming in. I’m getting espresso on the retrohale. The finish is long, and the body is full. What a box this has been. I will miss it. Don’t know when I’m gonna be able to buy another one. Flight situation is a bit tricky now, and supply might become an issue in the coming days. Let’s see. Adham might be travelling in the next couple of weeks. I ordered a couple boxes in the beginning of March. People were stocking up on water and food. I went straight for my dwindling stash. I wonder what my daughter will think when she reads this 20 years from now.

Last Third – 1 hour 30 minutes in

This one just goes on and on. Earth and pepper are dominating now, with a long creamy finish. Taking it slow here, as the full-bodied nature of this stick can overwhelm if you don’t put it down for a minute or two between puffs. Gonna try to take this to the nub.

Overall Thoughts

This stick is what drove my AJ obsession this past year. Led me to another stick that is a contender for my go-to buy. Another New World, the Puro Especial. I had the chance to buy a box early this year, but I passed, regretfully so. There is a reason why the Oscuro won 2014 Cigar of the Year in the Cigar Journal. It just ticks so many boxes. It punches above its weight, is well priced, and after smoking 20 of these, I still want more. Twenty sticks, ten months, and I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to get more into this country. That should tell you everything you need to know. 8/10.

Nerdy Stats

Wrapper: Dark Nicaragua

Binder: Jalapa

Filler: Ometepe, Condega and Esteli

Vitola smoked: Robusto

Smoke Time: 2 hours