My Father Le Bijou 1922 Petit Robusto

I'll launch this site with a review I posted to my personal Facebook the other night, the My Father Le Bijou 1922 Petit Robusto, measuring just 4 1/2” x 50. I expect the format for my reviews to change quite a bit moving forward, given the changes in platform, but wanted to give you all something as I kick this thing off.

The Le Bijou 1922 in the Box Pressed Torpedo vitola was Cigar Aficionado's Cigar of the Year in 2015, and this is not my first time smoking it, so believe me when I tell you it's fantastic.

The presentation is absolutely breathtaking; the bands are elegant and colorful, and complemented by the orange satin ribbon at the foot. The cigar itself is smooth and oily, with a few small veins and invisible seams. The cap is perfectly placed, and cuts easily (I went with the guillotine cutter until I get used to using that V-cutter— I really don't want to wind up accidentally destroying one of these beauties; I know, I know... I included the V-Cutter in the picture, but it's brand new and so pretty...). The cold draw offers just the right amount of firmness, and tastes of cocoa. The barrel of the cigar smells nice and woody, and the foot smells of chocolate.

There's a bit of a spicy kick at the very start— not wholly surprising, for a Garcia y Garcia blend. But beyond the peppery spice, there's what I can only describe as a “meaty” sweetness to the flavor. Like a steak, heavily seasoned with cracked peppercorns, and a light chocolate wine glaze.

I've made such a steak before, and now I wish I had one right now. I imagine it would pair wonderfully with this cigar. Something to keep in mind, since I do have a couple more in the humidor.

The burn line is perfect, as is the solid, white ash. The aroma is... interesting. Not in an unpleasant way by any means, I just don't know exactly how to describe it. It's somewhere between woody and meaty. It's pretty awesome.

The spice fades just slightly going into the second third, allowing the meaty flavor to really shine through. It's perhaps most noticeable on the finish and the aftertaste— you'd be forgiven for forgetting you were actually smoking a cigar, and not eating that steak. Hopefully I'll be forgiven for forgetting that I still have homework to get done, because this cigar is that good.

The ash held on until the halfway point before dropping off, and dropped cleanly and evenly. I swear, this cigar is determined to get that perfect 10/10, and it looks like it just might do it. At this rate, I have a hard time seeing it come in below 9.9 at the very lowest.

That sweet, chocolate wine glaze becomes a bit more pronounced going into the last third, leaving a sweet finish and aftertaste that balances perfectly with the peppered steak notes. The burn remains as perfect as the cigar itself.

Coming to the end, and this cigar has done it. I had a different scoring system (not of my own design) in my personal cigar journal before, but since coming up with my current system for the purpose of these reviews, this is the first cigar to achieve a perfect 10/10. Not a single characteristic exhibited the slightest flaw.