Cigar:            Partagas Cifuente Septiembre

Size:       49 x 5.5"

Country:    DR

Wrapper:    Hon, Medio-Tiempo

Binder:           Nic

Filler:           Nic

Flavor Strength:Medium-Full

NicotineStength:Medium

Date Received:    2006-03-19

Suspected Age:    NA

Vendor/Price:     Gift of Mickey, ASC - Thanks!

Hype:       Ramon Cifuentes himself would have been proud of these beautifully balanced smooth medium-full bodied cigars!  These cigars bare the name of the Cifuentes family, the legendary makers of Partagas in Cuba. In a tradition that spans a century, the masters of Partagas would create cigars under their name with a unique and distinct character from all others readily available. That tradition continues with Partagas Cifuentes Blend.  Building on the legacy of Ramon Cifuentes these specially seasonally blended cigars are medium to full bodied, rich and spicy in flavor, using a special Honduran Medio-Tiempo wrapper, as well as Nicaraguan filler and binder tobaccos. Its deeply satisfying, full, rich taste is derived from a limited crop of sun-ripened Honduran wrapper leaves. The extra aging on the plant gives the wrapper leaf flavor characteristics like no other.

Beverage(s):      Water, Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Smoke time:       1:30

Date:       2006-08-17

Posted to ASC:    2006-08-17

Overall score:    3.5 / 5.0

Overall:    Well constructed, pretty good cigar.  Variously bittersweet and nutty sweet.  Finish tended to a tannic sweetness.  Good draw, burn, and smoke volume.  Flakey, white ash.  Not a box purchase, but would smoke another. 

Ambience:   Evening in the sunroom listening to the hopeless and hapless Seattle Mariners.  Passed a biennial flight medical review this afternoon, so the doc doesn't think I am going to die in the air over the next two years.  I appear to be getting shorter, age-related presbyopia is slowly advancing, and I still can't pass the god-damned Ishihara pseudoisochromatic color test.  Still the ol' carcass seems in pretty good shape with barely perceptible blood pressure and a near-death pulse.  Why he needs to look at my asshole I don't know. 

Appearance: A much thicker stick than I have been smoking lately.  Very mottled, dark wrapper with small veins, oily sheen and a double cap.  Evenly firm with some give along length.  It seems to have the remnants of a box press. 

Cut & Prelight:   Nice rich aroma of a tannic dark chocolate - a kind of tea-like note.  Cut well yielding a slightly restricted draw which I prefer.  Sweet on the lips with a sweet burnt apple pie crust draw - something baked that produced sweet melanoidins. 

First third:      Initially bittersweet with a sweet aftertaste.  Fair smoke volume, but not copious.  Quickly lost the bitter edge, replaced with a sweet nuttiness.  White, very flakey ash holding to an inch.   

Second third:     Sweet, tannic finish, smoewhat leathery - slightly bitter and slightly astringent.  Even burn.  Smoke volume increased.  Has remained firm.  Flavor ramping up.  Less sweet and more tannic.  

Third third:      Started to bitter up and was abandoned at about 1.5"  Very nice sharply sweet, dry finish.  Good burn throughout.