Fire Robusto

Success in today's hype-saturated premium cigar market goes beyond selling a few boxes. Short term prosperity is all around us, riding on the tails of a solidified trend. But how does a young company become known, not as a trend follower, but as a standard-bearer – a maker of truly fine cigars? Owners of the Indian Tabac Cigar Company, Rocky Patel and Phil Zanghi, have obviously given these questions great consideration. In an astonishingly short period of time, Indian cigars have gained great cachet in the premium market and show no signs of diminishing anytime soon. Few cigar companies combine youthful energy, commitment, and tradition like Indian Tabac Cigars. The average age of the company's two principals is slightly over thirty. Still, they are wise beyond their years having selected an equal measure of tradition to round out their company. Their Honduran masterblender began his tobacco career at age eight under the tutelage of Cuban masters. Today, he creates the unique blends for which the Indian Tabac Cigars are known, and supervises the rolling staff. Their Honduran master curer is a highlands Mayan, born into a family with a hundred years of tobacco experts. Together, they have been tabacaleros for forty years. The company is committed to bringing their brand recognition to prominence, which requires determination and sacrifice. Phil oversees Indian's precious crops by riding horseback through the company's 300 acres of tobacco farms in the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua and in the Hamastrand Valley of Honduras. Known by the locals as the "Crazy Gringo," he's earned the respect of the entire cigar-making community in both countries. He’s instrumental in every step of making their cigars. He notes, “I'm not going to just sit in the United States and go to cigar dinners and tell everyone to smoke my cigar. I need to be here to harvest the tobacco, make sure only the best quality is used, manage the factory, and inspect all of the cigars before they are boxed. I just can't trust it to anyone else. It's a big job." That’s unusual for an American manufacturer—most of who merely trek to cigar-making countries to buy cigars, create their own band and call them "their own.” So we bring you a Fire you could yell about in a crowded theater! All the tobaccos in this blend are triple-fermented—not just the wrappers, but everything from the sultry, smooth capa leaf to the aged Nicaraguan and Honduran long-fillers. As a result you have a full-bodied stick about as close to Cuban as you can get in the States. Don't let it's slender, smaller-stature build throw you, this beauty packs a punch of hefty tobacco flavors with softer notes of leather and sweet cedar. Expect a robust spiciness to linger through the long-lasting finish. Also in contrast to its size is the volume of smoke it yields. Fire is strong, rich and loaded with spicy, slightly sweet flavors. It’s not as complex as our other selections this month but one pays a premium for complexity and, happily, what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in taste. So check out our reorder prices on this baby! Fine Kentucky bourbon will bring out and match the more brazen qualities of this stogie.