2001 Partagas Serie D No 3 Edicion Limitada

[El Presidente]

Once upon a time....HSA released some seriously good and well priced Edicion Limitada Cigars

Yes people of FOH....during the early half of the naughties, Cigar lovers around the world use to look forward to with bated breath to see what HSA would release. The majority of the cigars were excellent, some stunning.

One of these cigars was the 2001 Partagas Serie D Number 3 (although not released until 2002...some things in HSA have not changed )

I have had a chance over the past few weeks to revisit this cigar but before I table my thoughts I want to ask a few questions of members here who have the release.

1. Your thoughts at the time, your first tasting experience/views?

2. How have they aged/transformed?

3. Your view as to their future development? How will they develop into the future? Did you enjoy them more 10 years ago, 5 years ago, now?

From Trevors Website www.Cubancigarwebsite.com (the best Cuban CIgar reference site on the planet owned by one of the best blokes on the planet)

[matt14]

Will be following this, have a box in my locker among others that I am toying with getting out to smoke through or not sure to leave!!

[shortsqueeze]

I had two boxes on release, Under $200 IIRC? What a bargain! Long gone. At the beginning, what I remember was they drew wonderfully, felt great in the hand, had a hearty and rustic dark and oily, natural looking wrapper. As for flavor, strong. Earth, dark chocolate and black raspberries! A very clean tobacco flavor with a long finish. Decadent.

I have no idea how they aged because I both smoked and gave them away to good friends to share in the pleasure.

I am looking forward to hearing how they have fared after all these years.

[aes8]

I'd love to hear from anyone that has some 00 Pirámides. Word on the street is that these are either the best ever or worst ever, depending on the shade of wrapper.

[shrink]

I liked these cigars a few years ago, and I like 'em now. They're still really strong, with lots of espresso, dark bittersweet chocolate, and some subtle tangy flavors. I only smoke one every few months, when I'm in the mood. One of the classics.

[khomeinist]

These are fairly nice although I remember thinking to myself that the last one I sampled tasted quite NC. Probably the spicy espresso thing going on. Nice cigar although I wouldn't travel the ends of the earth to procure another box.

[brian1]

Of all the ELs over the years I think Partagas ELs have consistently been the best representation of the program. I have every Partags EL right back to the 00 Piramides. I feel the partagas blend works the best with the EL wrapper. These 02 PSD3 are one of my favorites and I love the corna gorda size. Not too big, not too small, just right.

1. Your thoughts at the time, your first tasting experience/views?

I bought some in 02 on release and thought they were unsmokeable. All bitter and tannic. Didnt touch them for a couple of years.

2. How have they aged/transformed?

Fast forward to today 9 years later and the EL wrapper has mellowed and lost its bitternes but now imparts a lovely leather profile onto the smoke. I always thought these cigars had an unusual meaty forest floor flavor it that makes sense. I though the 06 re re-release of these were much more approachable young than the originals.

3. Your view as to their future development? How will they develop into the future? Did you enjoy them more 10 years ago, 5 years ago, now?

Hard to say, but I believe ELs in particular are meant for the long haul and will continue to develop and round out over time. I think the 00 Piramide and these are some of the best of the EL program. Glad I stocked up on the 02 PSD3 when I had the chance.

[beamer]

This ought to be an interesting thread.

[bassman]

Didn't like them on release & still don't care for them. The original EL Piramides & the D2s IMHO are far superior.

[nick17]

my friend has one single stick left and I want to buy or trade something for it but he hasnt taken yet and if i can find a boz\x i would be willing to pay mega bucks for it

[Orion21]

How does the 2010 EL compare when first released vs the 01?

[PigFish]

I bought a couple of boxes of these in the day... a sucker for what should have been a great cigar. These, noted by some, as the best EL's ever offered helped shape my view of the program that I have today.

I have never smoked a great one. On the other hand I have smoked my share of mediocre ones, and some downright awful ones. I thought they were attempting to capture some form of brash NC cigar taste. I found the wrappers to be course and flame retardant and even though the retail price was fair, they did not represent my concept of what a limited edition cigar should be. They were not at all quality cigars.

Buying untested cigars at a premium is a crap shoot at best, a foolish folly at worst and these cigars simply helped me formulate my opinion of same.

-Piggy

[aavkk]

I'd love to hear from anyone that has some 00 Pirámides. Word on the street is that these are either the best ever or worst ever, depending on the shade of wrapper.

I dont own the SD3's and havent smoked enough to comment however I do own a box of the Piramides. I've smoked 3 or 4 and have yet to be wowed- very good cigars but not earth shattering. That being said, I smoked them within a few months of receiving the box so they can definitely use a long nap. I'll revisit them when I return to SC where my humidor resides at Thanksgiving.

[El Presidente]

I bought a couple of boxes of these in the day... a sucker for what should have been a great cigar. These, noted by some, as the best EL's ever offered helped shape my view of the program that I have today.

I have never smoked a great one. On the other hand I have smoked my share of mediocre ones, and some downright awful ones. I thought they were attempting to capture some form of brash NC cigar taste. I found the wrappers to be course and flame retardant and even though the retail price was fair, they did not represent my concept of what a limited edition cigar should be. They were not at all quality cigars.

Buying untested cigars at a premium is a crap shoot at best, a foolish folly at worst and these cigars simply helped me formulate my opinion of same.

-Piggy

Interesting Ray, I must say i quite enjoy this cigar although I have also had examples of the "Fire Retardant" wrapper and some misses. Overall though I have throughly enjoyed the cigar.

When released they were certainly very strong with a bitter chocolate/cocoa note and some dark morello cherry notes. I liked them from the get go.

At 5 years I hadn't seen too much difference in the general flavour profile. The burn was certainly better but the core flavours still there.

At 10 years+ I am finding them a more refined cigar, medium full, more dark cooking chocolate, morello cherry/stewed fruit nuances linger on the edges.

If Padron had access to Cuban Tobacco then I believe that this is the cigar that they would develop. To me it is a Padron Anniversary Maduro meets Partagas.

[khomeinist]

Exactly Rob. Emphasis on the Nicaraguan aspect

[jedipastor]

I have a couple of these, but have not smoked one yet I've tried to track down the Partagas Els from 2000-2004 because of my amazing experiences with the 2000 EL Piramide. That is a freakin' great cigar.

I honestly find all Partagas to be much more similar to Nicaraguan sticks than the other other Habanos lines (except maybe Bolivar, but that's still not as close as Partagas). I love Nicaraguan cigars, and that's probably why Bolivar and Partagas were the first Habanos marcas that I really liked ... easier transition. I'm branching out now, though

[Vetteman]

There was a thread on these at CF a couple months ago. I was meeting another member for a smoke and beverage at one of the local outdoor restaurants, and decided to bring a couple of these for us to review. Box code was ARA ABR02. I agree the PSD3 when released had a strong chocolate/cocoa flavor, one of the few flavors I ever discern. I loved them and had high hopes for them as they aged. I had last smoked one from this box about a year earlier and was disappointed. The taste was rather bland, and flavors muted. This round was definately better and we both agreed...a good, but not great smoke. I have to say that for this box at least, I liked them better fresh.

[nick17]

how was the serie D No. 3 from 06 should i get a few now while i can

[Yoruba Hacker]

how was the serie D No. 3 from 06 should i get a few now while i can

To my palate, remarkably similar, so yes, absolutely.

[ljgeffen]

From the vantage of 2020, this EL has held up quite nicely. Very nice construction and even, smooth draw throughout. The predominant taste is leather. A very “lick the chops” leatheriness to this cigar. Following the leather, there are competing flavors of chocolate and cedar. The finish is light black pepper with a strong loamy and peaty aftertaste to chew on with the leather. A very decent smoke if one purchased in 2002, but I would not pay too much of a premium in the secondary market.