H.Upmann Amatistas review

[laficion]

Since I'm not a very patient cigar smoker , check out my first

post on these H.Upmann Amatistas.

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=108343

Well yes , I did it, I SMOKED ONE

Come on !! I mean they are well into their 10th year , Right ?

Anyway, the cigar was perfectly ready to meet it's match,( sorry for the punt).

Above all I was worried about the draw on these cigars since they're from 2001, but after I clipped

off the cap I was enjoyably suprised to notice that it wasn't the case, the draw was perfect .

The prelight was earthy with no special aromas aside a little grassy tone after taste.

A more floral note with some spices came up front at the start of the smoke but the earthy

flavors were also very present.

1st Third- the cigar started off with very delicate earthy moss kind of flavor mixed with a

soft touch of leather that stood out from the very first draw, which was very enjoyable.

2nd Third- The flavors from this Amatistas was really starting to show at this point and

I was tasting some very up front notes of nutty almonds and again great leather notes that

coated my palate at every take. Nice !!!

Final third- The smoke turned on a more spicy tone, more like white pepper but also some dark coffee

was very present. The leather was still very present through the retro hale along side the leather

and coffee.

Final comment on this H.Upmann Amatistas is that this cigar did not pick up any great complexity

after all these years. The smoke was a very pleasent moment but if I was the one who aged the

cigars from the start, I would kick myself for wasting all that time for nothing and

that I should have smoked them a long time ago.

I will now however, enjoy smoking these cigar but with not more nor less anticipation then any other

smoke from my regular rotation in my humidor.

[MrGlass]

I love that ashtray!

[CanuckSARTech]

Thanks for sharing, Guy. A nice writeup, and wonderfully laid out pictures as usual - very nice and well done.

Cheers.

[CanuckSARTech]

And I agree with MrGlass - that ashtray always seems to draw my attention / eye, whenever I look at pics of one of your reviews. A very cool item.

[ChanceSchmerr]

Thanks for the thoughtful review, Guy! Have you tried much Upmann #1s or #4s? I'm curious to hear how these compare to Upmann Lonsdales and Petit Coronas

I have to agree with you on the "Past it's prime" assessment, at least for some 2000-2001 cigars. I've had various cigars from the era that have been plugged (as has everyone, I'll Wager!), as well as some really excellent, complex cigars.....but the overall majority of those that do draw well seem to be cigars that have well passed their "best before" date. 2001 Diplo 1s, RG Lonsdales, a few of the ERDM Grandes de Espana, Diplo 3s, SP Sanchos....all showed signs of their former glory...but were a little late to the party, so to speak. End Result - Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

[Hohenthal]

Thanks for an interresting review of a rare cigar.

Best regards, Alex

[cottierm]

Dear Guy,

Thanks for sharing your impressions and pictures.

Best,

Michel

Thanks for the thoughtful review, Guy! Have you tried much Upmann #1s or #4s? I'm curious to hear how these compare to Upmann Lonsdales and Petit Coronas

I have to agree with you on the "Past it's prime" assessment, at least for some 2000-2001 cigars. I've had various cigars from the era that have been plugged (as has everyone, I'll Wager!), as well as some really excellent, complex cigars.....but the overall majority of those that do draw well seem to be cigars that have well passed their "best before" date. 2001 Diplo 1s, RG Lonsdales, a few of the ERDM Grandes de Espana, Diplo 3s, SP Sanchos....all showed signs of their former glory...but were a little late to the party, so to speak. End Result - Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

[Smallclub]

I'm curious to hear how these compare to Upmann Lonsdales and Petit Coronas

I have to agree with you on the "Past it's prime" assessment, at least for some 2000-2001 cigars.

The Amatistas and the Gran Corona (same cigar, diff. names for diff. markets) have nothing in commun with the Upmann lonsdale. They are (were) strong, rustic mid-range cigars, when the lonsdale is a refined, subtle cigar.

As for the "Past it's prime" comment, Guy wrote nothing of the like, and I doubt an Amatista from 2001 would be "past his prime".

[ChanceSchmerr]

The Amatistas and the Gran Corona (same cigar, diff. names for diff. markets) have nothing in commun with the Upmann lonsdale. They are (were) strong, rustic mid-range cigars, when the lonsdale is a refined, subtle cigar.

As for the "Past it's prime" comment, Guy wrote nothing of the like, and I doubt an Amatista from 2001 would be "past his prime".

I agree that the Amatistas/GC are not going to be in common with the Lonsdale - I was asking how the Lonsdale and Upmann PC compared to the Upmann #1 and #4 respectively......My bad though, I probably could have been clearer on that point.

And yeah, Guy didn't come out and say that it was past it's prime...but I thought it was implied, given that he expressed how much he would have kicked himself for not smoking them sooner if he had been the one to age them. I just thought that wishing you had smoked them sooner meant that they were no longer as good as they once were, hence past their prime.

No worries man!

[Colt45]

Thanks Guy!