2011 Partagas Serie E No.2 review

[PapaDisco]

Saigon

January 22, 2014

Tasting Notes: Partagas Series E No. 2, Box Code LOE, Date AGO 12

Pre-light: light scent of clean, green haybails, medium Colorado maduro wrapper, well packed foot and pleasing construction. Came from a 5 cigar wood box that arrived very, very lightly molded (white) (NOT from the warehouse of El Presidente) which was easily brushed off. I have 4 other identical 5 cigar boxes from the same source that had no mold.

Punch cut produced a medium-easy pre-lite draw with gentle notes of chocolate and caramel.

Light with shorty wood matches on an outdoor roofdeck in Saigon (light breeze, high humidity) was easy with just three matches. It’s tough to get such a big ring size lit with just one shorty. Initial burn was even but quickly broke out a ½ inch run on one side that stopped and the cigar started to settle down to a nice, razor even Partagas burn. First ½ inch was pretty bland on flavors, offering only a hint of fresh baked bread on the palate and a harsher brush fire scent from the smoke; which volume was inadequate for a fat boy cigar like this. First quarter finished out better with a traditional leather flavor (not my favorite) and finally some of those hints of chocolate coming back. Oddly no hay flavors, and the smoke volume picked up but remained lightly on the harsh side. So far this stick is showing it’s impetuous, ill behaved youth at the beginning, but now halfway into the first third it is definitely evening out. There is no struggle to keep it lit (and wasn’t even from the beginning despite that odd burn run at the start), the burn is even, the flavors are settling into chocolate, caramel, underbaked bread (strange) on the palate and toasted nuts and oak from the smoke. The smoke is only harsh now if I take a double draw.

Second third continued to improve, with a few minor annoyances; flavors continued on the chocolate, bread theme with the addition of latex paint. Yeah, latex, go figure. It was light, but annoying. The burn went slightly crooked but corrected itself and could simply have been the breezy roof deck. The smoke was bigger and continued pleasant but over puffing quickly brought back the bite in the smoke and it wasn’t the buttery smoothness you get with a PSD4. Aftertaste was a modest version of licking a dirty ashtray and had me reaching for my Capiroska frequently. Right at the halfway point the cigar needed a touch up of its burn. Ignoring the acidic bite in the smoke, the other flavors were gentle in their presentation. I wouldn’t call it a bland cigar, and it does have a unique complexity, but you have to look for the flavors, they don’t stand up and punch you in the face. I am continually surprised that this 54 ring cigar is packing less of a punch than a PSD4, personally I like a more mellow set of flavors, but I’m having a hard time imagining how this thing will age. Hopefully the sharp edge to the smoke will even out, but can flavors strengthen with age? Most likely the palate of this stick will get fainter.

Final third: this was the best part of the cigar. Usually I find the final third of many cigars to be too harsh and tarred up for my taste; there aren’t many sticks I’ll smoke to the nub (call me a *****, but even Zino said you shouldn’t go past halfway!). In the last third the PSE2 started to come into its own. The scent of the smoke was classic high end cigar and very pleasant to sit next too. The strange (but lovely) underbaked bread flavor won out over the chocolate (caramel having been long extinguished) and the ashtray back taste was replaced with the childhood favorite of chewing on a stalk of hay. The harsh bite was making an heroic struggle to morph into a peppery experience, and succeeding most of the time.

Likes: interesting, unique, subtle flavors. Dislikes: low volume in the smoke, youthful indiscretions in the bite. Not a bigger PSD4, just bigger.

Will this thing better itself with age as well as I (ha!). I admit that I wasn’t planning to lite up one of these at just two years old, but the wide variance in the reviews here got me curious and I just had to try one. Keep in mind that this poor, abused stick just got off a 16 hour plane ride to Saigon (I did pack it in my cedar Siglo along with a Ramon Allones Superiore and a Punch Punch and wrapped the whole shebang in a ziplock with a water pillow), and has gone from a 62%rH tuperdore to the humid, breezy environment of Saigon. Maybe it was all the scooter exhaust, but then I’ve had plenty of PSD4’s, HdM Epi 2’s and Punch Punch up on this roof and they’ve all performed just fine. I'm either going to keep the rest of my PSE2's untouched in the humi for a couple more years, or I'm going to give them as business gifts to guys who don't know better Either way, I'm not giving up on this one yet, but this example doesn't say "ready to smoke" young.

[PapaDisco]

Partagas Series E No. 2 Rematch!

Call me undisciplined, but I just couldn't resist trying another one, same box code (but different box, left the 4 from the first box back in the humi in the States), same date, 3 weeks later on the same breezy rooftop in Saigon, and holy cow was this like a different cigar (in a good way). Same lovely construction, many of the same flavors but seriously heavy on the chocolate all the way through. The initial light and first third was full of chocolate, nutella, light hay and the huge volumes of smoke felt like chocolate syrup itself. Cool, syrupy smoke through the first half with a peanutty aftertaste. Second half the smoke warmed up and developed a peppery sensation without being harsh. Still lots of chocolate but more dominated by peanuts and hay. Almost no leather flavors. Wonderful, wonderful cigar!

[nick2021]

Partagas Series E No. 2 Rematch!

Call me undisciplined, but I just couldn't resist trying another one, same box code (but different box, left the 4 from the first box back in the humi in the States), same date, 3 weeks later on the same breezy rooftop in Saigon, and holy cow was this like a different cigar (in a good way). Same lovely construction, many of the same flavors but seriously heavy on the chocolate all the way through. The initial light and first third was full of chocolate, nutella, light hay and the huge volumes of smoke felt like chocolate syrup itself. Cool, syrupy smoke through the first half with a peanutty aftertaste. Second half the smoke warmed up and developed a peppery sensation without being harsh. Still lots of chocolate but more dominated by peanuts and hay. Almost no leather flavors. Wonderful, wonderful cigar!

Thanks for the information. I have really been interested in a box of these but have been on the fence. Looks like I may go for a box soon! Flavor profile is definitely up my alley!

[PapaDisco]

finished the last of a five box last night. First four were decent to excellent. The very last one was poor and I put it down at the halfway mark; too much biting smoke and not enough flavors of any quality. Cracked open a second box (same codes) to try and erase the dog **** trauma and the first cigar out of that box was outstanding. Sweet scent and chocolate when cold, chocolate and hay and nuts when lit, excellent burn even in the breeze and gobs of smoke.

So like all things cigar, there's variability in this one.

[Laxman]

Really need to try a few of these as I love Partagas

[LouisMazzini]

classic....a classic cigar IMHO

[Chelsea8]

Really enjoy these - good ROTT and even with a couple of years. Have not tried any before Dec 2011, so can't comment on those aged longer.

[rristevski]

Excellent cigar.

[Bartolomeo]

Didnt like these at first release but have come around to them big time, especially now the early boxes

[mk05]

I was lucky to get some of the OR in a split for arriving late to the party. Like a bigger ring gauge version of OGA11 D4. An excellent smoke with that genuine Partagas perfume. Sad that I have no more of these.

[joncat]

This is my go to cigar. I have smoked over 100 of these over in the past year alone and rarely had a dud. Every time I try something different (Cohiba, Mote,Trini) I always go back to the E2. I also enjoy the P2s but not nearly as much. These are great cigars, full bodied, great construction and the perfect vitola for my taste. Just came back from the Habanos Festival and 4 of us smoked 30 of these (3 boxes of 10s) in 4 days. All box codes MUR JUN 13. Although young they were a good smoke. We had some wonderful cigars in Cuba including the new Trinidad VIGIA (another superb cigar) and the new Cohiba. However, my humidor will always have a box or 2 of E2s I rate this cigar a 9/10. By the way I'm new here and this is my first post. Great site.

[hellorockview12]

Sorry for bringing back an old topic, but I've read that there was a period where these were consistently underfilled. Is there a specific era/box code a person should be looking for?

Thanks all!

[Destino30]

Up until recently all of the PSE2 that I had were from 2012, but I just bought some from 2014. Might try one to compare. I love the 2012s.

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