When Daniel Marshall made his first humidor in 1982, he may not have known the tenure he would end up having in the premium cigar industry. Today, he makes humidors for some of the biggest names in Hollywood, not to mention political figures and notable musicians. As familiar as his humidors are, many people forget that he also has his own line of Premium Cigars. The DM White Label uses a Cameroon wrapper, and the DM Black Label has a Connecticut Broadleaf Wrapper. The DM Red Label is the mainstay in his portfolio of Premium Cigars, with a 5-year aged Habano Colorado wrapper grown in Nicaragua. That is the subject of today’s HBTC Review.
In addition to the Robusto reviewed here, the DM Red label is also available in a 7 x 48 Churchill, 5.5 x 44 Corona, 6 x 60 Gigante, 6 x 38 Panatela, 4.7 x 42 Petit Corona, and 6.2 x 54 Torpedo.
DM Red Label Robusto
MSRP: $9.80
Size: 5.5 x 52
Origin: Plasencia Cigars S.A. (Nicaragua)
Wrapper: Habano Colorado (Nicaragua)
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Prologue
The DM Red Label looks to be a very well made cigar. Not at all surprising, since it was made at Plasencia. The wrapper truly has that reddish-brown Colorado hue, and is even in color and slightly toothy. The wrapper has a smell of cedar and hay, while the foot has some spice, and a little bit of barnyard mustiness. The cold draw tends to be a bit snug, and has more of that hay and gentle spice.
Act I
As the fire hits this cigar, the first few puffs have a nice black pepper and background sweetness. The pepper mellows a bit, then some cedar and something that reminds me of roasted nuts. It was all rounded out by some kind of sweet/sour combo that almost reminds me of dark cherries. The retrohale is spicy, but with a nice sweet background on the nose.
Act II
When the cigar get’s toward the halfway point, the cedar and spice move way in the background. The flavor notes in the front start to resemble dark cocoa, and even something like baking spices. There is also an almond kind of characteristic on the finish. The only real pepper spice at this point is on the retrohale, but even that is relatively mellow and still somewhat sweet.
Act III
As the cigar reaches a conclusion, cedar comes back, and something like toasted bread. I also get a sour note, but the sweetness is fading. Black pepper reappears from earlier, and I notice a very slight bump in strength. The retrohale is still slightly sweet, with bits of black pepper at the end, and just a hint of that sourness.
Epilogue
I have actually smoked quite a few of the DM Red Label over the years. While this Robusto isn’t necessarily my favorite size, it is still a good cigar with an approachable flavor profile. It has some good balance of spice and sweet, while still having some good residual notes to keep it interesting. Since I don’t really factor overall burn performance into scores at this point, I’ll just note that is was a bit problematic on these samples, but not a deal breaker by any means. This is a tasty cigars that should not be overlooked.
DM Red Label Robusto – How Bout That Cigar?
Rating: How Bout A 5er?
Overall Score: 88
PAD: +0.0 (What is PAD?)
Flavor Summary: Cedar, Sweetness, Spices, Nuts, Cocoa
Strength Assessment: Medium
Source: Cigars for this review were provided by Daniel Marshall