Don Fernando’s cigarblog

This is a non Cuban partagas, my first non Cuban partagas ever and with the experience from the non Cuban Bolivar I smoked I feared for the worst although the cigar looks good with the beautiful and dark wrapper and small veins. The aroma is light and reminds me of hay. The cigar feels well constructed, no hard nor soft spots on this cigar. The predraw leaves a dry taste in my mouth bit the draw is good.

I can taste coffee, full of flavor but not too strong. After an inch I can taste some leather through the coffee and after an inch there is some wood, soon to be followed by leather while the coffee disappeared. On the background I could taste some chocolate and later some pepper, nice and spicy. The cigar grows in strength.

The ash is silvergrey, the burn is perfect and there is enough smoke. This cigar is a keeper, medium to full bodied and full of flavor.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes I will

Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 7 / 10
Appearance: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Aroma (first part) 8 / 10
Aroma (middle part) 7 / 10
Aroma (last part) 8 / 10

The Culebras is a special kind of cigar, 3 curved cigars bound together by 2 pieces of red rope and one cigar band. A great smoke for a special occasion with 2 friends, like the time I smoked it with Smokey and Foster. The cigar looks rough with the strange shape and wrapper with veins even though it isn’t a big cigar in neither size nor ring.

The palate starts with leather and pepper and soon the pepper gets a bit stronger. Later on I could taste something like chocolate and also some herbs. The cigar is full flavored but medium bodied and offers enough differences in flavor to keep you interested throughout the cigar.

The smoke is very thick, the draw is perfect, the burn is great. Only the ash, that isn’t firm and breaks easily probably due to the shape.

Would I buy this cigar again? Yes, I will order a couple more boxes next month

Construction: 16 / 20
Draw: 16 / 20
Appearance: 20 / 20
Smoke && ash: 8 / 10
Burn: 18 / 20
Aroma (foot) 8 / 10
Aroma (body) 8 / 10
Aroma (head) 8 / 10

Today I smoked a Partagas serie D no.4, a robusto, ring 50 and 124 mm long (or short, depends on your point of view). A wrapper covered with lot of veins which gives the cigar a rough and tough feel & look, a cigar for real men who aren’t afraid.

The cigar has the nice smell of hay. Cutting the cigar was easy, just as lighting it. I needed just one cigarmatch to light it. The predraw was smooth, easy and promising. When I lit the cigar I tasted leather, smooth but growing is strength rapidly. After about a third I taste a pretty strong cacao taste and later on some wood. At about 2/3^rd there is a fresh mint flavor which is being followed by toast.

Unfortunately the burn is crooked as hell. It started at a third of the cigar and between that point and the end of the cigar I had to correct several times. All the corrections decreased the smoking time to approximately 60 minutes, which could have been more with a perfect draw. The smoke was good, nice full smooth and white, with a frayed but firm light grey ash.

Would I buy this cigar again? Maybe.

Construction: 14 / 20
Draw: 17 / 20
Appearance: 14 / 20
Smoke && ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 11 / 20
Aroma (head) 7 / 10
Aroma (body) 7 / 10
Aroma (foot) 7 / 10

Price / value: 13 / 20

Each month there is a ‘cigar of the month’ on www.sigarenliefhebber.nl where we all smoke a certain cigar and compare our reviews. Member Jeroen was kind enough to offer us a trade, he would send all who were interested 2 Partagas corona grande (size 152mm long and a 42 ring) and we would send 2 cigars of our own choice to Jeroen in return. As the Partagas corona grande is discontinued it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to smoke this cigar, so I gratefully accepted Jeroen’s offer.

The cigar is quite long, but to slim in my opinion. I like thick cigars, and for a cigar this long a ring 42 is too small. It is a corona size ring, but the cigar is quite longer then a corona. And I am not a fan of box-pressed square cigars and this cigar is a bit square. When I smelled the cigar I discovered mainly straw with a hint of wood and leather. The predraw was a bit hard. The first flavor is distinct leather which continued throughout the cigar. Halfway a pepper flavor kicks in and at the end I could taste mint with a hint of cacao.

I was afraid that the draw would be hard as the predraw was, but fortunately not, the draw was fine, but the burn wasn’t. In the beginning it was crooked until I corrected it. The ash was dark and not really firm. The smoke was pretty but not too thick.

Will I buy this cigar again? Probably not, it is a nice cigar but I smoked better

Appearance: 14 / 20
Construction: 14 / 20
Draw: 13 / 20
Smoke & ash: 7 / 10
Burn: 12 / 20
Aroma head: 6 / 10
Aroma body: 6 / 10
Aroma foot: 7 / 10

Price/Value 14 / 20