The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Apostate The Deseret - Robusto Grande (5.25 x 54) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-11-09

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

This is an immediately eye-catching cigar that absolutely evokes the look of a honeybee. The layered wrapper—featuring stripes of light brown Ecuadorian Connecticut contrasting against the rich, milk-chocolate-colored Maduro San Andrés primary wrapper—commands attention. Brandon from Apostate actually mentions in their intro video that this physical design was highly intentional, using the stripes on the foot and the pigtail cap as a “stinger” to physically resemble a bee.

The Mexican San Andrés leaf is matte-looking with less sheen, but it has tons of tooth and a wonderfully dry, coarse feel to it. As far as I can tell, the Ecuadorian Connecticut is glued directly on top of the San Andrés and is exclusively used for those contrasting stripes. While all the seams have visible edges due to the thick leaf, they remain tight all the way around. The band is equally eye-catching, featuring the “Apostate” name made from various glyphs and imagery, while the rest of it is highly detailed with excellent embossed accents.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Good (3)

The draw has good resistance and the burn starts very cleanly. The ash is mostly a medium-to-light gray, has evenly spaced striations, and is beautifully covered with large, bright white oil crystals. The burn is even and well-controlled, but definitely features a very wavy burn line. The ash itself doesn’t hold for very long; it started to petal and loosen up, so I made sure to gently roll it into the ashtray before it could collapse into my lap during the first third.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

Immediate hits of malty chocolate, earth, wood, and a heavy honey sweetness right on light-up. There’s a marshmallow chalkiness to the creamy finish that blends perfectly with the other flavors. Honeybee is an incredibly appropriate name—as the brand noted, they explicitly sought out the sweetest tobaccos they could find for this blend—and with that honey note, there’s a fruity flavor to the sweetness that distinctly invokes lemon zest. Tons of natural sweetness are coming off this cigar. I’m not getting a massive diversity of flavor in the very beginning, but what is there is deeply enjoyable and remarkably well-balanced.

With the second third, I start to pick up graham cracker alongside bits of almond nuttiness and coffee. The woody and earthy notes have pulled back, while the cocoa and honey hold on strong. Some of that marshmallow note is turning a bit more vanilla and floral. Pepper and baking spice are also in full swing, giving a nice, but not overpowering, bite. The complexity is absolutely swelling, and everything remains wonderfully balanced.

But you know what’s missing? Harshness, bitterness, or anything else that could detract from the profile here. The intensity is increasing in the final third, and all the flavors are just swirling around together perfectly. S’mores with hot honey? That’s exactly what I’m getting, and it’s fucking delightful. Graham cracker, cocoa, vanilla, marshmallow, honey, pepper—just tons of sweetness and flavor. The coffee, nuts, earth, and wood provide some traditional rounding out to the profile. This one is an absolute winner if you like naturally sweet cigars.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Excellent (5)

My one and only regret with The Deseret is that it’s only available in a single vitola: a Robusto Grande. An extra inch or so—like a Gran Toro with the exact same 54 ring gauge—just to extend the smoking experience would be absolutely perfect. But with a fantastic blend and great construction, this is a beautiful introduction to Apostate and definitely not one to be missed. FUCKING DELIGHTFUL, for sure.

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.