These cigars appreciate time to let the flavor bloom. Leave them in the humidor for at least two months and preferably up to six months. You will be rewarded with a fine cigar and one that price escapes. For the 50 bucks you pay you'll have a simply wonderful cigar. I have more expensive that don't hold a candle to the Black Pearl.

I received some of these in the pick 2 offer and over the last 2 weeks I have smoked 3 of them. The draw has been quite tight on them all so far, producing only a relatively small amount of smoke without a lot of effort. The flavor is reasonable to my palate, mild to medium as it progresses through the stick. Right now I'm not too excited about smoking the rest of my stock of these.

I recently took up smoking cigars this past summer (2010) and so naturally I usually enjoy mild, flavorful cigars of the connecticut wrapper variety. For Christmas, my Dad give me a few samplers one of which was a brick of 5 of these tasty Robustos and I braved one. Pre-light had a slightly fruity aroma and sweet taste. The first draw had a fair amount of spice mixed with sweetness. The smoke during the first 3rd was light upon draw as was the resting smoke. Ash was white and the burn was uneven at times but easy to correct with touch-ups. After the first few draws the stick settled into a nice semi-sweet flavor with spiciness at the back of the tongue and throat and was surprisingly mild considering my "connie" palate. Near the middle of the stick the flavor and body settled into the medium-full range and took on a more wood-like flavor but still had that touch of sweetness. Last third of the stick moved to a darker earth and charcoal flavor and produced much more smoke after the draw but also started generating heat and I had to limit puffs until the heat and harshness was overwhelming. Up to this point the stick maintained a nice semi-sweet undertone throughout the different flavors. Overall, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this nearly 2 hour stick considering I mostly smoke connecticut wrappers and consider this a safe and enjoyable step up to medium-full body cigars for mild connoisseurs like me!