I remember seeing on the SUCC Yahoo page that Robustos was selling
these. You should post it there (or I can do it with your permission).
Thankfully I've never bought from them. I went in one time and they
Unicos or Cuabas (can't remember) that were FUZZY with mold! I stopped
in a few weeks back when I was in town and their selection was less
than impressive. Now with this Robaina story, another reason not to
shop there.

LL


--- In vache_vancouver@yahoogroups.com, "fedorajeff" <jeffroberts@...>
wrote:
>
> Hello Guys
>
> This is just a call-out and a warning so no one else buys one of these
> cigars.
>
> While at Robustos to see Hamlet roll a couple of weeks ago an
> enthusiastic client told me about some custom rolled cigars that they
> had that were from Alejandro's farm. I should have known better but I
> bought one (for $20 I think).
>
> After I purchased it I was told that they were rolled right at the
> factory at the farm and that their contact in LA was the only person
> who was authorized to export them so they were very rare. I guess I
> should have known right there but he went on to explain that they were
> all torpedo sized, no other size was rolled at Alejandro's farm. I bit
> my tongue and decided not to explain to him that Alejandro uses a
> punch on all his cigars, that there is no factory at the farm and that
> when we were all there they gave us Corona Gordas.
>
> I guess I was still hoping it would be a decent cigar since they had
> obviously been smoking them and they were still selling them to the
> public. I figured the staff at Robustos were true afficiandos and that
> even if I knew better the taste would be good or they wouldn't risk
> their reputation on them.
>
> Boy was I wrong.
>
> This cigar wasn't terrible but imagine paying $20 for an Uncle Mikey
> Nicaraguan special. I don't believe for a moment that this was even a
> Cuban cigar. It was rough, tasted acrid and at the half way point I
> threw it away. I would have given it a fair to good review if I was
> told it was Nicaraguan and charged $5 but as a $20 Cuban custom
> rolled, no way!
>
> Now I've been stopping by Robustos on and off for years and they are
> pretty decent guys. I've attended parties and events they've held and
> other than what I consider too high a regard for Torano cigars (wink)
> they are great to hang and smoke with. This makes it even more
> puzzling to me that they think these are Cuban. Don't they know? How
> could the owners of a cigar store so easily be fooled? The other
> lingering question that comes up is... are any of their other Cubans
> fake? If someone from LA can convince them that these dog rockets are
> from Alejandro's farm then have they also been convinced that "these
> Monte Cristo No. 2s were snuck out of the factory by my sisters
> cousin?". Did any of the rest of their Cuban stock come from this same
> source? one bad apple doesn't necessarily spoil the whole barrel but
> it sure makes you hesitate and wonder.
>
> That's my rant and warning.
>
> FedoraJeff
>