Bittersweet Symphony

Thanks to several successful bids at cigarbid.com, I've added a couple of new cigars to my humidor. I recently smoked a K.Hansotia Symphony Robusto. K.Hansotia is the maker of the Gurkha Class Regent line JMitch was raving about. So I was excited to try out his signature named line. I was not disappointed.

I pulled the K.H. out of the humi and was concerned that the cigar seemed a little smushy to the touch, especially at the head of the cigar. But, my hygrometer read a solid 68%, so I was hoping that it would burn ok. In fact, it lit and burned perfectly, probably the best burn I've every had for a cigar, no need to correct the burn the entire time I smoked. The ash was a medium gray and the draw was perfect, making this the "easiest" smoke I've ever had.

The Symphony has a Connecticut wrapper, Dominican binder, and Nicaraguan filler. The wrapper had a mild flavor, but, unlike the Fonseca I smoked recently, upon lighting the flavor was smooth, solid, and slightly spicy throughout. The Symphony produced volumous smoke and packed a little punch, so I would categorize it as mild/medium. The cigar's label is silver and black, with K.Hansotia's signature in script, with the words "A Century of Tradition, Silver Edition" below his name. This robusto measures 6" in length and has a 50 ring gauge.

I married my cigar with Boulder Beer Company's Mojo India Pale Ale, an enjoyable IPA that provided a nice bitter complement to this smooth, enjoyable smoke.

I imagine Tom Hagan would have a couple of these sticks in his humi to enjoy. I look forward to enjoying the other four in my humi, but won't hesitate to pass one to a good friend, especially if they enjoy milder smokes or don't have much cigar experience. Plus, at less than $2.50 a stick via auction, adding some more down the line is likely option.

On my scale, the K.Hansotia Symphony Robusto receives a 4 out of 5.

Here's how fellow smokers rated the Symphony Robusto at top25cigar.com.