I was getting ready for Monday night football and decided I would allow the rough looking Aliados Robusto that had been stabilizing in my humidor for about five weeks to keep me company during the game. I had read in several vendors’ websites about the Aliados and I believe they were touted as Rolando’s labor of love; I had good expectations, but in the end, the cigar turned out to be as boring as the game—unless you’re a Seattle fan, of course!

The Aliados looked pretty sloppy to begin with. From cap to foot, I couldn’t imagine that much time and attention had gone into the making of it. Regardless, the wrapper had a very attractive color and a pleasantly sweet aroma of cacao and butter. The large ring gauge gave me the sense that this would be a fun smoke little smoke.

It wasn’t until I lit the stick and took a few puffs that I began to have suspicions of disappointment. I mean, it lit rather well, but the smoke it gave off had some hints of harshness that really shouldn’t be there so soon in any cigar. The predominant flavor was just woody and with something like a bitter cedar overtone. Though I was suspicious, I smoked on.

The ash really began to spell disaster pretty soon after lighting. It was as crumbly as it gets and I didn’t even get past the first third before it fell off. Simply put, it exploded upon impact with the ashtray; something that have rarely seen, even in the drugstore cigar I smoked in the Cigar Basics Video. The burn was definitely irregular by now, and I began to wonder if I wanted to waste my taste buds on this stick.

Into the second third, as if for a minute, I thought perhaps the cigar would redeem itself. The smoke became a bit more aromatic, and I sensed some distinct notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. Still, the bitter cedar was clearly present and the smoke was a tad harsh and ashy.

At around the beginning of the last third, the smoke became very ashy and took on a definite ammonia twang. By now, I started to consider which cigar I would smoke next to try and cover up the terrible taste I had in my mouth; thus, about twenty minutes after lighting the cigar, I decided to pull the plug before the stick lost whatever dignity it had left.

If there’s anyone out there that absolutely loves this cigar, I’d be really interested in your comments. As it stands right now, I’d be happy to never have to face another one of these again. Life’s just too short to smoke bad cigars!