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So I went out yesterday to seriously celibrate my new NL PB. Consdered several combinations, in the end settled on this pair, neither I imagine many of you will have had the opportunity to try & I am willing to bet no one has had both? Of course I can think of a few BOTL how might have but I am betting their not reading this thread.
Anyway the first with my friend Ron, at his nursing home St Anna. It was a Maria Guerrero Banquet, a machine made pre-revolution stick, from a brand discontinued in the 80's. So probably a 50's stick then. You can see from the yellowing of the cellophane the oils had plenty of time to seep into it.SAM_5117.jpg
I punched the cap & pre-light draw was clean, not dusty or musty which can happen to old cigars. It lit & drew well as you'd expect of a machine made. The taste was pure tobacco flav & woodly tones. It went down very well with a coffee & a Palm.SAM_5119.jpg Brought from Kev Ree for 35quid a couple of yrs ago.
Having driven back home, ditched the car, I change my second stick as by then I didn't hav 2hrs+ & chose a cigar I had dragged all the way up to Bute & Aberdeen & back again, as the opportunity never arose to smoke it.
The Partagas 10th Annerversay of Casa del Hanabos is a No2 from 2000? One of Ade UK's collection. But was it just a ordinary No2 with a fancy label, like other LE seem to be? First problem was that I had switched from a parejo model to a torp & hadn't picked up my cutter so rather than do the macho thing of trying to bite the tip off, (which only really works with very fresh humid cigars I believe) I used the punch & it worked just fine, just taking the tip of the cap off. I would have normally taken a little more but the draw was perfect for me. Hmm, so I wondered, with a normal cut would it have been too easy draw, under filled ect? Well it felt fine along the whole length so I dismissed this worry & noted the pre-light draw was unremarkable. SAM_5127.jpg
I started it with a Coffee & a Diabolicos 8% Belian ale on special this month at the cafe D'. The first few puffs were ok & the standard No 2 party profile seemed to be coming through but with in a short while a richness & depth appeared & showed this wasn't a standard No2 after all. The weather was windly & at one stage a light shower occured & I had to shelter under a covered area so the uneven burn wasn't helped by the weather but I think this was the only fault, I corrected it a couple of times, not that it was really necessary it but I like to keep things ticketly-boo.
SAM_5131.jpg
No, the most remarkable aspect for me was how it continued to improve. Sir Winston claimed the second half of a Havana is the same as any other & he reported laid them down around that stage. I usually smoke to the band but to be honest most cigars don't really show their best in the last 30% for me & certianly not below 20%. Now I rarely nub a cigar but I do carry a cocktail stick for use in emergency (last used for the 100pt H.Upmann) so out it came & I was glad to smoke it down to the width of the band a even then it didn't get bitter. SAM_5137.jpgThis cigar produced some rather exotic & refined Party intensive flav & I loved it. Rated 10/10 for flav & 97 over all, just let down slightly by the uneven burn. If you have one I'd dig it out, although I am sure it'll still be a great smoke for another 5yrs but after that it might become more muted & that would be a real shame. In wine parlance, needs smoking up, it aint gonna get much better than this IMHO.
Anyway the first with my friend Ron, at his nursing home St Anna. It was a Maria Guerrero Banquet, a machine made pre-revolution stick, from a brand discontinued in the 80's. So probably a 50's stick then. You can see from the yellowing of the cellophane the oils had plenty of time to seep into it.SAM_5117.jpg
I punched the cap & pre-light draw was clean, not dusty or musty which can happen to old cigars. It lit & drew well as you'd expect of a machine made. The taste was pure tobacco flav & woodly tones. It went down very well with a coffee & a Palm.SAM_5119.jpg Brought from Kev Ree for 35quid a couple of yrs ago.
Having driven back home, ditched the car, I change my second stick as by then I didn't hav 2hrs+ & chose a cigar I had dragged all the way up to Bute & Aberdeen & back again, as the opportunity never arose to smoke it.
The Partagas 10th Annerversay of Casa del Hanabos is a No2 from 2000? One of Ade UK's collection. But was it just a ordinary No2 with a fancy label, like other LE seem to be? First problem was that I had switched from a parejo model to a torp & hadn't picked up my cutter so rather than do the macho thing of trying to bite the tip off, (which only really works with very fresh humid cigars I believe) I used the punch & it worked just fine, just taking the tip of the cap off. I would have normally taken a little more but the draw was perfect for me. Hmm, so I wondered, with a normal cut would it have been too easy draw, under filled ect? Well it felt fine along the whole length so I dismissed this worry & noted the pre-light draw was unremarkable. SAM_5127.jpg
I started it with a Coffee & a Diabolicos 8% Belian ale on special this month at the cafe D'. The first few puffs were ok & the standard No 2 party profile seemed to be coming through but with in a short while a richness & depth appeared & showed this wasn't a standard No2 after all. The weather was windly & at one stage a light shower occured & I had to shelter under a covered area so the uneven burn wasn't helped by the weather but I think this was the only fault, I corrected it a couple of times, not that it was really necessary it but I like to keep things ticketly-boo.
SAM_5131.jpg
No, the most remarkable aspect for me was how it continued to improve. Sir Winston claimed the second half of a Havana is the same as any other & he reported laid them down around that stage. I usually smoke to the band but to be honest most cigars don't really show their best in the last 30% for me & certianly not below 20%. Now I rarely nub a cigar but I do carry a cocktail stick for use in emergency (last used for the 100pt H.Upmann) so out it came & I was glad to smoke it down to the width of the band a even then it didn't get bitter. SAM_5137.jpgThis cigar produced some rather exotic & refined Party intensive flav & I loved it. Rated 10/10 for flav & 97 over all, just let down slightly by the uneven burn. If you have one I'd dig it out, although I am sure it'll still be a great smoke for another 5yrs but after that it might become more muted & that would be a real shame. In wine parlance, needs smoking up, it aint gonna get much better than this IMHO.
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