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Partagas Charlottes
Size: 143 x 35 ? Carlotas
Smoke time: 1hour
Box date: 1998 Source: peanutpete (UKCF MAW).
The Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No 3 is one of my favourite cigars, the Charlottes (deleted 2002) is it?s vitola predecessor and a cigar I?ve been busting to try and Review for some time. In his covering note, Pete explained that Charlottes of this vintage can be prone to draw problems, to help alleviate that possibility I?ve kept this cigar dry boxed for several days. These cigars were never produced in great numbers and so today are extremely rare, and from a purely personal interest point, I think the Charlottes 5 x 5 dress box is one of the most unique and attractive ever produced. I manage to run myself out of camera card space, so my apologies for not getting the finale shots.
Appearance: Slightly flattened, squared in the box. Toothy, oily dark brown wrapper with some darker black and green patina and carrying a few light veins. Standard band ?A? (Text aligned version).
Construction: Feeling along the length the cigar was yielding and if anything a little softer than I had expected. The wrap spiral was perfect and almost invisible. The triple, if it was a triple was beautifully applied and blended almost seamlessly into the wrap. The pre-draw was slightly resistive as was the smoking draw, which happily remained smooth and untroubled throughout the smoke. The burn was spot-on beginning to end and the dark grey ash compact throughout. No re-lights, no corrections.
Flavour: The pre-light aroma was light with grassy haylike notes. The start was bold, grassy tobacco accompanied by a delicious saltiness. The flavour strength was an immediate Medium and remained so for the third as the Charlottes went into her stride with an introduction of light, extremely sour citrus and woods. The flavours balance was amazing, simultaneously big and refreshing, yet subtle and intriguing. The smoke was creamy and abundant, and the aroma, which I confess I?m not the best at appreciating, carried a delicious woody pungency. Moving into the second third and the flavours strength increased and became richer and fuller with the arrival of earth and leathery tastes but perfectly balanced by the lighter citrus tastes beneath. For the final third and with the citric sweetness gradually receding, the Charlottes unleashed her Wow factor. Without any loss of refreshment and no harshness anywhere, the earthy leathery tastes became bigger and bolder taking on an almost beanlike quality and carried a distinct spice/pepper in retro-hale.
Fabulous cigar. Fabulous aftertaste.
Overall: A brilliant cigar and a joy to smoke. I particularly liked the way in which the flavours strength started as a good medium and then gradually shifted up to full. I wasn?t expecting too much in the way of power from a fourteen year old cigar, but surprisingly it was there, and while I?m guessing it lacked the knock-out punch of it?s youth, it increased in parallel with the flavours.
Fortunately Pete gave me two Charlottes, so the question ?Would I smoke another? is academic, but if he hadn?t the answer would be an unreserved YES .... like a shot! And to anyone who gets the chance, grab it, I think you?ll be more than pleased you did.
Size: 143 x 35 ? Carlotas
Smoke time: 1hour
Box date: 1998 Source: peanutpete (UKCF MAW).
The Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No 3 is one of my favourite cigars, the Charlottes (deleted 2002) is it?s vitola predecessor and a cigar I?ve been busting to try and Review for some time. In his covering note, Pete explained that Charlottes of this vintage can be prone to draw problems, to help alleviate that possibility I?ve kept this cigar dry boxed for several days. These cigars were never produced in great numbers and so today are extremely rare, and from a purely personal interest point, I think the Charlottes 5 x 5 dress box is one of the most unique and attractive ever produced. I manage to run myself out of camera card space, so my apologies for not getting the finale shots.
Appearance: Slightly flattened, squared in the box. Toothy, oily dark brown wrapper with some darker black and green patina and carrying a few light veins. Standard band ?A? (Text aligned version).
Construction: Feeling along the length the cigar was yielding and if anything a little softer than I had expected. The wrap spiral was perfect and almost invisible. The triple, if it was a triple was beautifully applied and blended almost seamlessly into the wrap. The pre-draw was slightly resistive as was the smoking draw, which happily remained smooth and untroubled throughout the smoke. The burn was spot-on beginning to end and the dark grey ash compact throughout. No re-lights, no corrections.
Flavour: The pre-light aroma was light with grassy haylike notes. The start was bold, grassy tobacco accompanied by a delicious saltiness. The flavour strength was an immediate Medium and remained so for the third as the Charlottes went into her stride with an introduction of light, extremely sour citrus and woods. The flavours balance was amazing, simultaneously big and refreshing, yet subtle and intriguing. The smoke was creamy and abundant, and the aroma, which I confess I?m not the best at appreciating, carried a delicious woody pungency. Moving into the second third and the flavours strength increased and became richer and fuller with the arrival of earth and leathery tastes but perfectly balanced by the lighter citrus tastes beneath. For the final third and with the citric sweetness gradually receding, the Charlottes unleashed her Wow factor. Without any loss of refreshment and no harshness anywhere, the earthy leathery tastes became bigger and bolder taking on an almost beanlike quality and carried a distinct spice/pepper in retro-hale.
Fabulous cigar. Fabulous aftertaste.
Overall: A brilliant cigar and a joy to smoke. I particularly liked the way in which the flavours strength started as a good medium and then gradually shifted up to full. I wasn?t expecting too much in the way of power from a fourteen year old cigar, but surprisingly it was there, and while I?m guessing it lacked the knock-out punch of it?s youth, it increased in parallel with the flavours.
Fortunately Pete gave me two Charlottes, so the question ?Would I smoke another? is academic, but if he hadn?t the answer would be an unreserved YES .... like a shot! And to anyone who gets the chance, grab it, I think you?ll be more than pleased you did.
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