Shady Moose Robusto

I’ve long been fascinated by the creative process that goes into cigars, both from the blending side and the packaging marketing side. In the case of the latter, hearing the backstory of a cigar and how a company decided to bring it to life is a conversation I always like to have with those who make cigars.

If there is one person who has no shortage of backstories for the cigars he has created, it is Michael Giannini, who is currently the chief of customer engagement for Quality Importers Trading Co., the parent company of XIKAR, Palió, Cigar Caddy, Humidor Supreme and others. But Giannini spent a good chunk of his career with General Cigar Co., notably with the La Gloria Cubana brand.

In 2012, General Cigar Co. launched a collection of cigars called Foundry which was the brainchild of Giannini and was designed “to amplify the artistry and romanticism of premium cigars,” something it did by initially by tapping into steampunk culture, which it called both a retrospective and futuristic interpretation of innovation. The brand was notable for its debut cigar, the eponymous Foundry, which came with a steampunk-inspired metal gear band in addition to the more traditional paper band.

The Foundry collection would grow rapidly with a number of releases that were named for elements on the periodic table, others that honored the War of Currents in the development of electrical systems, and then spins on General’s existing brands, such as the Foundry Heritage Bolivar line.

In 2014, Foundry released a new line called Chillin’ Moose, which was designed to be a value-oriented line and would debut in three sizes priced between $3.25-3.99 per cigar. That blend used a Connecticut habano wrapper, Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States, the latter of which is a broadleaf varietal.

In May 2016, the company released Chillin’ Moose Too, a different blend that featured a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper, with the binder and fillers coming from Nicaragua. The next line extension would come in April 2022, when the Bull Moose line was announced, a collection of three 60-ring gauge cigars and a 70-ring gauge vitolas with an all-Nicaraguan blend that promised to deliver a deeper profile than the original.

In October 2018, and between those releases, Foundry was sold to Kretek, which is where Giannini was working at the time. The sale did not include the entire Foundry collection, however, as Chillin’ Moose and its offshoots would remain with General Cigar Co.

For its most recent extension, General Cigar Co. released Shady Moose, a line that uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper over a Mexican binder and fillers from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the United States. The line is made at STG Danlí in Honduras and offered in three sizes, including a toro, the first time any Chillin’ Moose blend is offered in a toro.

“With Shady Moose, we built a great, anytime, anywhere blend that takes the smooth-smoking properties of a Connecticut Shade cigar and amps it up with the right amount of complexity and spice,” said John Hakim, brand manager of Chillin’ Moose, in a press release. “And we didn’t stop there. We added in the cool Moose imagery and locked in an unbelievable price point. Now we’re waiting for Shady Moose to take a run at the internet, just like Bull Moose did last year. We’re ready for it. The question is…are you?”

The new line would feature artwork and packaging similar to that of the original, notably a relaxed moose with large antlers and wearing sunglasses smoking a cigar, though the boxes and bands would change to a bright yellow color scheme.

• Cigar Reviewed: Shady Moose Robusto
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: STG Danlí
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut)
• Binder: Mexico
• Filler: Colombia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua & United States
• Length: 5 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto Extra
• MSRP: $4.79 (Box of 20, $95.80)
• Release Date: March 1, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

After taking a few moments to take in and slightly chuckle at the band on the Shady Moose Robusto, my attention turns to the wrapper leaf that sits underneath it. The three wrappers are all incredibly supple and slightly oily, both characteristics that are immediately apparent as it comes out of the cellophane. That’s not to say that I don’t find some fragility in the leaves, but given what this wrapper leaf is and can offer, it shows off a pretty solid texture for a delicate leaf. The cigar is rolled to a medium-firm density, with a bit of give but not feeling too soft or too hard. If anything, it’s probably a bit softer than the current average, but again, nothing concerning. The cap is cut a bit bigger than the cigar and drapes over it in a way that reminds me of the cap on a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. The foot has aromas of butter, soft bagels, cornflakes, half-and-half, and a bit of banana. The cold draw is very smooth in terms of airflow; in terms of flavor, it’s creamier than the aroma but doesn’t seem interested in branching out into many other flavors beyond a bit of popcorn.

Given the aroma and cold draws, the Shady Moose Robusto starts off with more pepper than I would have imagined as there’s a mix of white and black pepper that gets combined with white toast and some light woodiness out of the gate. A touch of the half-and-half or a generic creaminess sits in the background, seemingly trying to serve as a balance but coming up just a touch short in those first puffs, particularly in one sample where the initial flavor is smokier and slightly charred. Retrohales are lighter with the pepper but offer more earthiness than the profile does, though it is on the lighter side as well. The profile takes a step forward ahead of the one-inch mark, as the flavors concentrate a bit, the earthiness comes down from the nostrils, and black pepper takes over as the driving force of the finish. That finish suggests that despite the lounging moose on the band, the profile might not quite be as easygoing. It’s a rev of the engine more than a sustained uptick in intensity, but the rest of this section is definitely fuller than how it started. More creaminess joins the profile to soften the flavor and increase the body, while toast, light pepper and a bit of potato chips come in after. Flavor can hit medium-full but is closer to medium, body is medium to medium-plus, and strength is mild but I think I feel a bit of nicotine in my system. Construction is very good, with the cigar just needing even lighting and regular puffs to produce plenty of smoke while maintaining a smooth draw and even burn line.

There’s a push from the toast flavors as the second third of the Shady Moose Robusto gets going, and the creaminess seems willing to step aside to let it drive the profile for a while. The pepper dials back as well, but the toast does a decent job of tingling the taste buds in a similar manner. One cigar has a fleeting Altoids mint flavor, a pivot off of some chalkiness that keeps it from going too far down that road. Creaminess helps carry the cigar through the second third, followed by flavors of soup crackers, a bit of dry earth, some sprinkles of black pepper, and something that is causing a bit gruffer sensation out of the smoke. It’s not an immediately identifiable flavor, but the effect it has on my taste buds is noticeable. As this section comes to a close, there is an interesting blossoming of some accent flavors beginning to happen, and the first thing that comes to mind is a torched orange peel, but it’s not quite as juicy as that might suggest. From there, I get some kind of fragrant wood chips that might be used to impart some flavor on a grill or in a smoker. The flavor is still medium-plus, body is more medium-full, and strength hasn’t picked up and now seems medium-minus. Construction remains very good.

The start of the final third picks up a bit of char and burnt flavors, which increase with each puff as the heat affects the toast and wood flavors that helped shape the second third. The change makes the cigar taste richer and earthier, and while my taste buds tingle in a way that makes me think there is more pepper, I don’t think there actually is. Between the three cigars I smoked, it feels like the profile was tasked with walking a tightrope in the final third, and the results were varied. One gets out of balance pretty quickly, one stays in balance much better and the other doesn’t completely fall out of balance but also seems just one puff away from doing so. At its best, the Shady Moose Robusto maintains its creaminess while picking up a bit of smokiness and allowing the black pepper to provide a finishing tingle. At its worst, char drives out the creaminess and turns the cigar rough and grating on the palate. The final inch or so brings on some heat in all three cigars, a pretty consistent cigar that the time has come to put the cigar down. Flavor finishes medium-plus, body is medium-plus, and strength is shy of medium. Construction remains fantastic, with all three samples almost completely free of any issues.

Final Notes

• I mentioned the suppleness and fragility of the wrapper leaf above, and both were on display in the Shady Moose Robusto. The first cigar’s wrapper began splitting not long after I lit it, and yet this was the cigar that inspired me to write about how good it felt.
• It was the only one of the three cigars to sustain any appreciable damage to the wrapper, so I’m willing to chalk it up to an isolated incident.
• There is a challenge I seem to encounter from cigars that use a Connecticut-seed wrapper and a filler designed to give the cigar some oomph, and that is how the first puffs hit my senses. While the peppery kick is appealing, I think there are times it gets overused or misused, and as such I’ve been finding more enjoyment from mellower, creamier cigars as of late.
• The Shady Moose Robusto had some moments where it delivered some nicotine strength, but on the whole, I didn’t feel much in the way of nicotine after any of the three cigars.
• I’m perplexed by how long it took me to smoke through each of the three cigars, so much so that I questioned my first smoking time number because of how high it was. The quickest time I could muster was just about two hours, while the longest was about two-and-a-half hours.
• The Shady Moose line is distributed by Forged Cigar Co., which advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 15 minutes on average.
• Site sponsors Corona Cigar Co. and Famous Smoke Shop carry the Shady Moose Robusto.