Cigar Review: AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf Robusto

Initial Thoughts:

Today we're smoking the AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf Robusto, a cigar I suspect is fairly common in the AJF section of your local humidor. I got this cigar at the beginning of February from CigarClub.com, and I'm excited to see what it has for us.

The first thing I noticed about the AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf, after taking it out of the cellophane that is, is that it has a somewhat haphazardly attached cap. It was kind of flopped on there without much care for presentation. Additionally, the wrapper leaf was very coarse, almost like sandpaper. However, the toothiness was obvious, so it could be full of flavor.

After cutting the lazy cap with my Colibri deep V-Cutter, the draw was still a little tight. However, the flavors I did taste on the pre-light cold draw were of… Christmas? Perhaps it's a pine flavor that I'm picking up on.

Once I lit the AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf, the flavors were very bold, with the faintest whiffs of a hint of sweetness. And, unfortunately, I tasted what I suspect were green, under-fermented tobacco flavors.

CigarScore:

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Through the middle of the cigar, the flavors were okay, but not bad. Actually, they were a mix of decent and mediocre-at-best. The flavors from the Connecticut Broadleaf were incredibly bold, which isn't a bad thing, but I think they completely overshadowed the flavors from the Nicaraguan binder and fillers, which were green and under-aged.

Final Thoughts

After smoking the AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf Robusto for just over an hour, my earlier opinions were confirmed. I think this cigar is just “okay,” and that the flavors of the Connecticut Broadleaf completely dominated the experience. In fact, the flavors of the wrapper were so bold, they verged on becoming bitter.

However, the overall construction of the cigar was pretty good. And, I think that if AJ Fernandez had paired the bold Broadleaf with some fuller, richer binders and fillers, they could've achieved the complexity I think they were going for.

While this cigar wasn't amazing, it was a solid performance. And, you might like the bolder flavors that accompanied the United States Connecticut Broadleaf. So, for these reasons, the AJ Fernandez Enclave Broadleaf Robusto earns a CigarScore 4.

The CigarScore Rating System Explained