Micallef Black Robusto

In June, Micallef Cigars began selling its newest blend at select events. It’s called Micallef Black and like so many cigars before it that used Black in their branding, it’s a cigar that is being marketed as being on the stronger side of the spectrum.

And like so many of those cigars, that means a maduro wrapper. In this case, it’s a Mexican San Andrés leaf over an Ecuadorian habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua.

“With Micallef Black, our intention is to present a cigar that exudes power, confidence, and a touch of allure,” said Dan Thompson, president of Micallef Cigars, in a press release when the cigar was announced in May. “Moreover, we are thrilled to offer this exceptional blend at an unbeatable value.”

As Thompson references, both cigars are more affordable than a typical new cigar in 2023.

After debuting at events in June, Micallef offered the cigars to all of its retailers at the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show.

• Cigar Reviewed: Micallef Black Robusto
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Micallef Cigars S.A.
• Wrapper: Mexico (San Andrés)
• Binder: Ecuador (Habano)
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $7 (Box of 25, $175)
• Release Date: June 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The black and gold band reminds me of a popular Lotus F1 paint scheme, and it does well to draw attention away from the roughness of the cigar itself. A closer inspection of the cigars reveals that each is quite bumpy. I notice that one of the three cigars has some lighter striations that aren’t present on the other two cigars, though all three are quite dark with a very dark brown wrapper that is bordering on black. While there’s oftentimes a linear relationship between how dark a cigar is and how oily the wrapper is, that’s not the case here, as I find the wrappers to be relatively devoid of oils. The Micallef Black’s wrapper is medium-plus in aroma with mild scents of oak, paper and manure. The feet smell a notch or two stronger with sweet artificial cocoa flavors over some woodiness. While the foot might lead me to question if this is an infused cigar, the cold draw puts any of these suspicions to bed. There’s still a sweeter chocolate flavor, more like a hot cocoa, but it’s not the specific sweetness that tastes like artificial flavoring. It sits over white pepper, dry fall leaves and a fruitiness that reminds me of a less acidic pineapple in one cigar and raspberry in another. All three cigars have a draw that is slightly open, though to varying degrees.

While there were a lot of references to chocolate in the paragraph above, once lit, the Micallef Black Robusto shows almost no signs of chocolate. It’s a dry mixture of earthiness, minerals, generic bread, some roasted flavors and a touch of meatiness towards the end. Dry terroir is the commanding flavor of each cigar, though the second strongest flavor differs among the three cigars. One has sweet cedar, another has a doughnut sweetness and one has a semi-sweet chocolate flavor. There’s a varying amount of harshness, nuttiness and sourdough bread, though none of those three flavors are consistent. Things get sweeter during the finish and the cedar comes alive. I don’t think the sweetness gets close to rivaling the dryness, but it allows for the creaminess and bread flavors to show themselves a bit more. Pepper builds to a medium level and then disappears. Retrohales are still led by a dry flavor though cedar more than earthiness over fruitiness and a brief amount of a very defined savory roasted flavor that reminds me of a rotisserie chicken, even if it’s only present for a split second or two. After 45 seconds or so, it feels like my mouth is covered in sharpness and toastiness, which drowns out dry cedar, leather and sharpness. One cigar has a ginger-like palate-cleaning sensation that is present, though it’s nowhere to be found on the other two cigars. Flavor is medium-full, body is medium-plus and strength is medium. Each cigar seems perfectly content to be smoked even slower than I’m willing to go, which is saying something. Construction is excellent, though the ash could look a bit nicer and hold on a bit longer.

Two of the three cigars seem to be burning a bit hotter in the second third, which isn’t a problem for one of them though one cigar also mysteriously just goes out right around the halfway mark, necessitating a full relight. Flavor-wise, earthiness is overwhelming everything else. Dry nuttiness, dry grains and white pepper all seem strong enough to lead the profile otherwise, but they just can’t escape the earthiness. Midway through, some puffs have a woody flavor that is able to edge past the earthiness, which turns more like wet mud. The combination reminds me a lot of peat but without the associated whisky burn or sweetness. The finish is more or less the same on two cigars, though black pepper plays more of a role. On the cigar that got relit, a richer charred earthiness leads to nuttiness, leather, meatiness and a flavor that reminds me of processed meat. Retrohales have lots of white and red pepper over some sweet cinnamon and honeydew. If you’d like to have your sinuses cleared out—or at least a feeling similar—I’d recommend retrohaling, as it does a great job at that. During the retrohale’s finish, I can’t pick up much difference in the nose, but the flavors I taste in my mouth remind me of pistachio and woodiness. Flavor is medium-full, body is closer to full and strength is medium. In addition to the one relight, another cigar needs a touch-up to help with an uneven burn, while the other cigar has very good combustion and construction.

When it’s time to consider removing the band, the Micallef Black Robusto’s profile has settled into a place where nuttiness leads earthiness, white pepper, mineral flavors and some mild honeydew sweetness. One cigar has a charred earthiness that is almost as intense as the nuttiness, though even that cigar isn’t as dry as it was during the second third. The finish has lots of woodiness over toastiness and saltiness; one cigar also has sharpness on the side of the tongue. For the most part, retrohales have a softer nuttiness over some popcorn and a mild sweetness, though there are times in which burnt flavors lead the dance. The finish is more or less the same, though the nuttiness seems stronger than it is during the initial parts of the retrohale. Flavor is closer to full, body is full and strength is medium-full. Two cigars need touch-ups, mainly to help with an uneven burn though the smoke production needs help as well.

Final Notes

• Last week, Micallef announced a relatively unique arrangement. Micky Pegg, co-founder of All Saints Cigars, has been named the new president of sales for Micallef. In addition, Micallef’s sales team is now selling All Saints cigars. Beyond that, the two companies say their operations remain separate.
• I found more variance between the cigars than I would like, as I don’t know if any two cigars had 70 percent in common with one another. Part of that is because the individual cigars were often inconsistent from puff to puff. There were plenty of times when I would take five consecutive puffs and end up with two or three different profiles. In general, those profiles were either ones where the nuttiness and woodiness would lead or where the dry terroir flavors would be stronger. During the first half of the cigar, it was more the drier terroir flavors, while the nuttiness was present the majority of the time in the second half.
• I’ve only smoked one Micallef a, but I seem to recall that cigar having more strength than this.

• Here’s a picture of the wrapper striations I mentioned.
• The first cigar, the one that mysteriously went out in the second third, was a lot more enjoyable than the other two. It had significantly more richness and less dryness than the other two cigars. It’s disappointing that that was the cigar that had to go out because it probably could have been even better.
• The other two cigars each had at least one time where I felt like the burn line had gotten uneven enough that it was affecting the flavor and should be corrected.
• During the second cigar, there were three or four consecutive puffs that were led by an extremely dry artificial flavor. I don’t know what it tasted like, but if you told me it was the same flavor as chewing on dried-out grass or straw, I would believe you. Fortunately, it only happened for a handful of puffs, it didn’t seem to affect the subsequent puffs and it wasn’t present in the other two cigars.
• While the cigar had many signs of chocolate before it was lit, I don’t recall finding chocolate once I was puffing on it. There wasn’t much sweetness though what little was present was a very unique honeydew-like flavor.
• Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was around two and a half hours on average, though I probably could have extended that out to close to three hours if I wanted to.