Mega Review - The 12 Robustos of Christmas

[Luis]

Thanks yiorgos for your reviews ! quite some informative read.

Kindda celebrated the Cohiba victory by smoking 2 Siglo 6 today -with great pleasure, which is most welcome after many unsatisfactory smokes those last couple of weeks

[satch]

Great stuff Yiorgos.
What you gonna do next christmas, piramides?

[jdawg]

look forward to the next robusto...

not sure what it could be...

[ACMCC]

Great set of reviews Yiorgos, nice work, would like to have read your opinion of a good Regio, shame they sent you a duffer! you set your self a bit of a task doing 12 - one everyday with out a break , got to be a special reviewers medal for sure....

[yiorgos]

Thanks yiorgos for your reviews ! quite some informative read.

Kindda celebrated the Cohiba victory by smoking 2 Siglo 6 today -with great pleasure, which is most welcome after many unsatisfactory smokes those last couple of weeks

2 siglo vi in one day? man, that's a session!

[yiorgos]

Great stuff Yiorgos.
What you gonna do next christmas, piramides?

Maybe, maybe.... I 'll think about it during the year!

[Ryan]

Well done on the thread Yiorgos, great reading.

Maybe, maybe.... I 'll think about it during the year!

12 Piramides

Partagas P2
Monte 2
Upmann No. 2
Diplomatico No. 2
VR Unico
Cuaba Piramide EL 08
Por Larranaga Valioso RE
Punch Serie d'Oro No 1 RE
Partagas EL 00
Hoyo EL 03
Cohiba EL 01
Cohiba EL 06

Good luck with that..

Personally I think 12 Diademas of Christmas would be more fun.
That is, more fun seeing you try to get through them..

[yiorgos]

The largest size I could possibly get 12 different cigars in would be a Double Corona (Pacos & Prominentes)

HdM DC
Partagas Lusitanias
Punch DC
RA Gigantes
VR Don Alejandro
SLR DC
San Cristobal El Morro
RA Grandes ER 2008 Spain
Punch Platino ER 2009 India
Bolivar DC ER 2007 Middle East
Cohiba DC EL 2003
Monte DC EL 2001

It will be more fun spending the whole year trying to find the 2 Regionals and the Monte DC!

[tupacboy]

partagas lusitanias = one of my fav's

The largest size I could possibly get 12 different cigars in would be a Double Corona (Pacos & Prominentes)

HdM DC
Partagas Lusitanias
Punch DC
RA Gigantes
VR Don Alejandro
SLR DC
San Cristobal El Morro
RA Grandes ER 2008 Spain
Punch Platino ER 2009 India
Bolivar DC ER 2007 Middle East
Cohiba DC EL 2003
Monte DC EL 2001

It will be more fun spending the whole year trying to find the 2 Regionals and the Monte DC!

[HabanoSy]

2 siglo vi in one day? man, that's a session!

Impressive...

Cheers, HabanoSy

[rokkitsci]

You've got it all wrong

The hell with looking for that hard to find cigar.

In fact, the hell with the Twelve Cigars of Whatever.

Just get it all done with in one swell foop:

The largest size I could possibly get 12 different cigars in would be a Double Corona (Pacos & Prominentes)

It will be more fun spending the whole year trying to find the 2 Regionals and the Monte DC!

[yiorgos]

The hell with looking for that hard to find cigar.

In fact, the hell with the Twelve Cigars of Whatever.

Just get it all done with in one swell foop:

It would take 12 days to smoke that!

[mackem keith]

Impressive...

Cheers, HabanoSy

I was thinking the same myself when i read that very impressive amen to that marra..

[Luis]

a very pleasant session indeed, much better than today's mag50 and ongoing Duke (which box i should leave in peace in the humi for some more time) Actually so much better I just ordered a new box of siglo 6

And for next year Yiorgos, although more challenging than the Robusto selection, the 12 days of DC look great - would make a great Christmas present to yourself !

[yiorgos]

Day 13: Partagas D4 Reserva

The 12+1 Robustos of Xmas, Day 13:
Partagas Serie D No.4 Reserva

The 12 robustos of Christmas are all smoked and reviewed. We had some great cigars, some decent cigars, cigars that surprised us in a good or bad way and we had cigars that were just bad. The Cohiba Robusto was named the best of them all, and I believe most would agree with this. Scoring 94/100 points, I asked myself if there was a Robusto that could score higher than that. There was only one Robusto that came to my mind; the Partagas D4 Reserva. A good friend and pioneer of Cigars.ie, Mark, bought a box of these in 2006. Since then, we have been smoking one each every year to check their progress. He was more than happy to join me to smoke two of them and compare them to the rest of the robustos.

I am a huge fan of the Partagas D4, and it is always on the top drawer of my humidor. It is strong, bold and toothy, yet complex and well balanced; a fantastic cigar. But what happens when you get a D4 that is rolled with leaves from the cream of the crop of 2000, aged for three years? Would you get the best D4 out there and would it be the the best robusto ever? Lets find out...

Appearance & Prelight 15/15

When reviewing the regular D4's I said it looks so good that you just want to eat it! Well the D3 Reserva is a step further... It look so good that you would prefer staring at it, rather than lighting it up! The wrapper is smooth and shiny, dark and reddish brown in colour and the veins are almost non existent. The cigar is tightly packed without any soft or hard spots. The triple cap is perfectly applied and strong aromas of cedar and honey ooze from the foot of the cigar, while a strong earthy smell is present on the wrapper. The prelight draw is perfect and the wrapper leaves a sweet flavour on the lips.

Flavour & Body 22/25

The D4 Reserva starts with an intense coffee flavour. As we smoke through the first third, the cigar mellows down and gets more complex. Woody, earthy and sweet with a medium to full body. In the second third the cigar turns to full body. The flavours of the first third become more intense, but not harsh. It is bold and toothy, like the D4, but too strong. In the last third the cigar gets even stronger, almost overwhelming. I would have expected it to be more creamy and refined, rather than powerfull. I smoked my cigar right to the butt and it never got hot, but the strength made me sweat!

Draw & Burn 22/25

The draw is great from the very start. The cigar starts burning unevenly, but corrects itself in the second third. The ash is firm, dark grey - almost black - and stays on the cigar until almost two inches long. It delivers plenty of smoke that has a long citric finish, while Mark found his to be slightly acidic. In the last third the cigar burns sideways again, with the burn not being affected much. It smokes well until the very end, when I had to put it down to avoid getting my fingers burned!

Overall impression 32/35

When I smoked the D4 Reserva for the first time, I thought it was a fantastic cigar. This time, reviewing it thoroughly and comparing it to the top 3 robustos of the reviews, the expectations were very high. I was expecting a cigar that would be strong and spicy but also creamy and balanced. A cigar that I would have scored higher than the Cohiba Robusto. It was strong, very strong, and had some of the flavours of the regular D4. It was complex and flavourfull, but I did not find it as creamy or refined as the Cohiba. It is, however, a very good cigar, and deserves a high mark, especially if you prefer strong flavours. Does it worth it's current price tag? From a collectors point of view it does, but not from a smokers perspective!

TOTAL 91/100