Wanderer Robusto

Wildfire Cigar Co., which is the creation of Jeremy McDonald, launched in May 2021 with two cigars, a limited edition called The Single and a regular production line called The Revivalist. After not launching any new cigars in 2022, at the 2023 Total Product Expo (TPE), the company added a pair of new lines. Once again, there was a limited edition—Intro—and a regular production line, this one called Wanderer.

Besides being notable for being new lines, Intro and Wanderer were made at Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. in Danlí, Honduras, the first time that Wildfire has worked with the factory, which has also produced cigars for Cavalier Genève, Fable and Somm, among others. Wildfire had worked with Joya de Nicaragua for its first two cigars.

The Wanderer blend uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan habano binder and four fillers: piloto from the Dominican Republic, broadleaf from Pennsylvania and tobaccos from Jalapa and Paraguay. It is offered in three familiar vitolas.

“Sometimes not having direction leads you down a path of discovery. The Wanderer is that discovery,” said Jeremy McDonald, Wildfire’s founder, in a press release when the cigar was announced. “I wanted to create something that was rich, had strength, and highlighted some tobaccos that are not as widely used, while offering something familiar. Smoke it and let it take you on whatever journey you choose.”

• Cigar Reviewed: Wanderer Robusto
• Country of Origin: Honduras
• Factory: Fábrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: Nicaragua (Habano)
• Filler: Dominican Republic (Piloto), Nicaragua (Jalapa), Paraguay & U.S.A. (Pennsylvania)
• Length: 5 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• MSRP: $10.99 (Box of 20, $219.80)
• Release Date: March 27, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

As I was getting set up to smoke the first cigar, I took it out of its cellophane somewhat on auto-pilot, with the TV on in the background and finishing up reading an article on my computer. As soon as my finger touched the wrapper on that cigar, I was immediately snapped into the moment as it felt like I had found an incredibly oily spot. A bit more inspection doesn’t reveal as much oil as I thought after that first impression, but some spots are a bit oilier than others. The leaf is fairly dry and textured in the spots with no oiliness, contrasting textures between the three cigars. The color has a bit of mottling, the veins are thin and scattered yet can create a decent ridge, and the seam lines are visible. The cigar looks good visually, though the caps aren’t the best-applied, as some are off-center and show some bunching around the edges, while another cigar’s heads have wavy cuts that make the seam lines swoop, dip and rise instead of circle the cylinder. Overall, the cigars are firm, but I will find a soft spot occasionally; in the first cigar, it is on the back side at the head. That said, the head of the second cigar I smoke is notably firmer than the rest of the body, while the third cigar’s lower half is softer than its upper half. My first sniffs of the foot remind me of Ritz crackers and the related snacks made with them. One cigar has a bit of peanut butter, and another makes me think I’m smelling the cheese-filled Ritz Bits snacks. It’s an aroma that is cooling on the nostrils, and I’m trying to figure out what might be causing that sensation, as it doesn’t seem like there’s creaminess in the aroma. There is also a lemon cake aroma in two of the three cigars, an interesting and fairly uncommon aroma for my nose. Pepper is minimal but not completely absent across the three cigars’ aromas. The cold draw is soft and bready in texture and, much like the aroma, lacks pepper. There is also a bit of sweetness and some underlying damp wood.

The first puffs of the Wanderer Robusto are pretty much what I would have expected given the prelight aroma and cold draw, in that there’s a bready undertone and just a touch of pepper. There’s also a touch of creaminess, with the profile and body a bit fuller and more vibrant than I would have expected, but more importantly, it is remarkably balanced. If anything, it’s a bit familiar, but I won’t complain about a solid of execution of flavors, especially at the start of a cigar. It is when I take my first retrohale that the cigar awakens with a light, bright pepper and some dry earth that leaves a lingering tingle in my nostrils. If there was a case for the total being more than the sum of its parts, it’s the combination of puffs and retrohales in the first third, and as we have often said on this site, if you’re not retrohaling, you are missing a good bit of what a cigar has to offer. There’s a bit of campfire emerging in the aroma, while the flavor picks up a touch of nuttiness, flavors that are seemingly complementary to each other and not that far apart on the flavor wheel, which certainly work to build complexity, even if it still feels like a tamer level of complexity. The flavor in the first third is a very pleasant medium-plus, the body is medium, and the strength is fairly mild. While the draw doesn’t seem loose, the burn rate in the first third feels quicker than average, but that’s my only note about construction, as there’s plenty of smoke and an even burn line.

The second third has a tendency to pick up just a touch of roughness, seemingly due to the introduction of earthiness in the profile. It’s not a bad flavor or texture, but one that starts to drive the profile and has more robustness than what was offered in the first third. That means the toasty and nutty flavors begin to fade into the background, and as a result, the profile loses some of the complexity offered in the first third. Creaminess hangs around in the profile, and the retrohales continue to add some real magic to the overall experience with white pepper, though, as this section progresses, that steadily turns more towards black pepper. After disappearing for a bit, the campfire aroma returns towards the end of this section. As it does and the robust earthiness softens just a touch and a bit more creaminess begins to emerge to smooth over some of the edges that remain in the profile. I’d be remiss not to mention the retrohales, which now have a good amount of white pepper that pleasantly tingles my nostrils.  It’s not quite the same pacing of changes from cigar to cigar, but the overall progression is pretty consistent. While the flavor started medium-plus, it has backed down to medium, the body is now medium-plus, and strength is still shy of medium. Construction remains very good and problem-free as long as I give the cigar regular puffs.

The final third starts with the wood in the profile spinning into a more vibrant contributor but also one that has some rougher spots around the edges, changes that lead to a bigger and more lasting finish. There is still some creaminess in the mix, but the variance in the first two cigars makes me wonder what the blender intended, a question asked again in the third cigar. The nuttiness begins to return by way of a peanut butter flavor, while the earth has lightened up just a bit but is still contributing quite nicely to the profile. The finish is a bit drier than I recall it being, which is interesting given the profile notes I’ve taken, but for some reason, the finish leaves me with thoughts of dry Honduran terroir. There’s some black pepper emerging in the profile, and with it, the first puffs that I would describe as having any harshness, as puffs hit further back in the throat.

Final Notes

• I absolutely love the line “Leaves Burn. Stories Live” that are on the sides of the band. Such a poignant, simple reminder of how cigars are often enjoyed.

• Earlier this year, we began weighing and measuring the cigars we review. In the case of the Wanderer Robusto, there was a bit more variance than might be expected.
• When I hear the word wander, I immediately think of the poem “The Riddle of Strider,” written by J.R.R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

• Wildfire Cigar Co.’s booth at the 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show was pretty unique, with my colleague Charlie Minato calling it his favorite booth of the show.
• None of the three cigars hit me with much in the way of nicotine strength.
• The first third of the cigar felt like it smoked much quicker than the remaining two thirds. In fact, I figured I was on track for a cigar that would take about an hour, maybe an hour-and-a-half.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was about two hours on average.