The Circle of Life Robusto is a new regular production line produced by Casa Carrillo in Santiago, Dominican Republic. West Tampa’s founder, Rick Rodriguez trained under Ernesto Perez-Carrillo during his time at General Cigar Co. and often cited him as one of his key mentors and teachers. “Reuniting with Ernesto on Circle of Life was an opportunity to connect with my past and lay another brick in my future,” Rodriguez said in a press release.

• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro
• Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: Robusto 5 x 52

The dark chocolate brown wrapper is toothy with a few imperfections, and the cigar feels very firm. From the foot, I detected a little sweetness and cocoa. The draw was nice, offering flavors of cocoa, earth, coffee, and a bit of spice on the palate.

Upon lighting the same profile emerged and the retrohale echoed those notes along with a fair amount of pepper. The ash was white and held to about half an inch before naturally falling off, and the burn was excellent with lots of smoke. The flavor profile was consistent throughout the cigar with no remarkable changes to note.

The Circle of Life Robusto from West Tampa Tobacco Company is a solid cigar with a well-balanced medium to medium-plus profile. It is a good example of how a dark cigar is not necessarily full-bodied or strong. It had a medium body at best and light medium strength. There were no construction issues, nor did it need to be touched up or corrected. I liked this cigar despite its simple flavor profile, but it did not blow me away either. It is not just blowing smoke, even though it is a bit monochromatic. Overall, I would recommend it.