Emilio audiophile LE 2023 Robusto

This week I take a look at a returning cigar which I got to smoke last years, thoroughly enjoyed, but never got to review. Today I take a look at Emilio Cigars’ audiophile LE 2023 Robusto

The Good Stuff:

Last year Emilio Cigars released the audiophile limited edition in a single robusto format which sold out extremely quickly. The cigar was an instant hit as demand grew for a larger release. Fast forward to 2023 and the Emilio brand owners, the Zucca family have listed to the masses releasing another round of audiophile only this time with two additional formats. Blended and produced by Black Label Trading Co. at the Fabrica Oveja Negra factory in Nicaragua the 2023 audiophile’s blend remains untouched utilizing an Ecuadorian maduro wrapper over an Ecuadorian habano binder and fillers from Nicaragua. Outside of the returning 5 x 50 Robusto the blend is joined by a short robusto (4 1/4 x 48) and a toro (6 x 50). Each comes packed in boxes of 20 with a very limited release of only 200 boxes of each being released. The cigars will range between $10.25 and $11 per cigar. Big thanks to our good friends at Zucca and Black Label Trading Co. for sending a handful of these our way for review.

• Size: 5 x 52
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Maduro
• Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
• Filler: Nicaraguan
• Body: Full
• Strength: Medium/Full
• Price: $10.50

Prelight:

The Emilio audiophile LE 2023 starts out with a very dark, very consistent brown wrapper. The wrapper’s texture is ridiculously toothy and gritty as it feels like sandpaper in my hands with a small amount of oils coating it. The wrapper itself feels very thick, hard and dense while the cigar has a good weight to it. It seems packed well and there are absolutely no soft spots to be found. There are almost no veins in the wrapper leaf as it’s laid seamlessly over itself leading up to the cigar’s round, double-wrapped cap. The cigar is then polished off with an awesome look white, pink, green, black, and silver band with the audiophile logo, Emilio logo, and the pint head with silver record player inside it. I love the design on this band and there is no difference between this one and the 2022 version.

The wrapper on the Emilio audiophile LE 2023 gives off great raisin and date aromas while the foot of the cigar is very spicy and woodsy with a dash of black pepper. The cap cut clean as easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces notes of cinnamon, spice, and deep woodsy flavors.

First Third:

The Emilio audiophile LE 2023 starts out with a nice black pepper punch which quickly fades allowing the cigar to release bold notes of black cherry, deep oak, dark chocolate, and spice over lighter vanilla and raisin notes. There is also a great little nutmeg flavor that only pokes its head in every so often. The draw is perfect as each puff kicks out a desirable amount of thick, white smoke which takes a good amount time before dissipating while the cigar is an absolutely smoke machine releasing a ton of stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burnline is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white and dark gray zebra-themed ash before falling into my ashtray at about the 1 inch mark.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Emilio audiophile LE 2023 and the spice fades back a bit allowing the more fruit-forward flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate and raisin lead the charge backed by deep oak and a nice musk over a very lightly spiced mixture of flavors. The retrohale on the other hand brings the spice right to the forefront of the experience. Depending on your preference you can easily balance between the two profiles. The cigar is burning absolutely perfectly while leaving me with little-to-no nicotine kick.

Finish:

The flavors really creamed out into the final third of the Emilio audiophile LE 2023 Robusto. The cigar started in the medium/full range and ends more in the center of medium with dark chocolate and raisin up front backed by softer vanilla, light cherry, and oak. It took me about an hour and a half to smoke this cigar to the nub. Along the way, I experienced no harshness, no extended heat or sap, and never once had to touch-up or relight the cigar. In fact, I am very impressed with just about flawless the cigar burned with such solid burn-line from start to finish. I close out with with nothing in terms of a nicotine hit.

Overview:

I was really impressed with the audiophile when I first smoked it last year. I never got around to reviewing it as the two that I smoked were given to me by friends and I hoped to stumble across more, however they were sold out very quickly and it’s easy to see why. The audiophile is packed with great flavors that really appeal to my personal palate, while the cigar burns perfectly from start to finish. The profile is complex enough to keep me entertained, but also not overpowering. I especially liked the fruit flavors I was able to pull from the cigar. At ~$10 a stick this cigar is also very affordable however the availability is very scarce and like last year, will go quickly.