HDM Edicion Limitada 2003

[paulF]

Hope you enjoy this one guys.

Setup: It was a drizzly night in Melbourne, no wind, beautiful temperature and as usual walking around the garden taking notes and reflecting on stuf... This was a decade old Cigar and the oldest Cigar i have ever smoked so i wanted to make sure i take notes.

Pairing drink: None

Ring Gauge: 52

Cigar Length: 156 mm / 6.1 inches

Body: Medium - Full

Box code/year: unknown/2003

Humidor conditions: 62% humidity

Construction and appearance: Beautiful dark brown wrapper,few veins,no soft spots, awesome rustic look with a nice sheen.My photos don't give it justice for sure.

Pre-light aroma: Smelled very floral.Couldn't pick up any other than floral scents, that's how strong they were!!!

Pre light taste: Roast tobacco, some saltiness on the lips.

Draw: Good draw, neither firm nor loose.

Smoke: Good smoke production that got denser as the session progressed. Second hand smoke smelled amazing through out the session.

Burn: Even burn , although it needed a few adjustments every now and then.

Smoking time: 1h 40 minutes

First third:

It started with beautiful mild pepper notes and surprisingly, i was tasting mushrooms! I thought at first i must be mistaking that mushroomness with nuttiness but no, my mind kept on coming back to mushrooms and not nuts. Some sweetness started emerging and the second hand smoke was smelling beautiful. Picked up some grassiness but it was floral so was happy with that. Roast tobacco flavours started popping and sweetness got more and more sweet. Things started getting more interesting from here on.Bit of a combined pepper and sweetness and then followed by roast tobacco!!! Absolutely brilliant combination. As if this wasn't good enough already,charred wood scents and flavours started flowing. More and more lingering sweetness with a bit more pepper,more roast tobacco and that mushrooms taste.Draw got a bit looser at the end of this massively brilliant first third .

Second third:

The smoke got milder in the second third.That combination of sweetness, saltiness on lips and roast tobacco was un-freaking real. Some dark chocolate notes were appearing every now and then which i usually find very hard to detect.

The complexity of this Cigar started taking a different level from the second third onwards!My taste buds were being taken on a rollercoster ride: mushrooms,sweetness,mushrooms, sweet grass,earthiness, sweetness again,woodiness, saltiness,roast tobacco!!WOOOOWWW

No two puffs tasted the same!This was just too good to be true.

Beautiful dark layered ash decorated the cigar and smoke was getting thicker. Another unbelievable third.

Last third:

By this time, my hoodie was starting to smell like a bouquet of fresh flowers!! The journey of Cigar tasting bliss continued on.

Sweetness combined with mushrooms and then out of no where, a fresh menthol after taste!!!!! I was lost for a bit thinking that can't be right! Why am i tasting menthol in a Cigar?! Took a note and carried on with the session.

Smoke got thicker and the sweetness was just sublime. At the middle of the last third, the Cigar started developing leathery and rustic notes just like the smell you get when entering an old antiques shop. Add to that, Cedar and dark chocolate notes were making a presence every few puffs.

This medley of beautiful flavours kept me captivated and I was starting to get worried that this session is coming to an end soon!

The last third ended with puffs of this nature: mushrooms coupled with a hint of wood,spicy sweetness coupled with mushrooms followed by sweet grass and hint of cedar! So complex and flavoursome that i could write a review on each puff.

Conclusion:

Simply put and to my mind, it's the perfect cigar and most definitely the best Cigar i have ever smoked. That complexity of flavours was just mind boggling. I nubbed the Cigar with not even the slightest nicotine buzz and the after taste was just stellar from all the sweetened menthol flavours. 1h 40 minutes of WOWness!

Cheers everyone

[Ken Gargett]

good stuff.

had a couple of boxes of the and down to my last few, if that.

not certain that they were not a better (richer) cigar when younger. perhaps best to say a different cigar. i've loved them at all stages.

[finecigar]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. Haven't ever tried one of these... sounds nice. 03 was a good year with all others I've sampled

[Mr.T]

Yes, great review! I finished my box off last year and found them to be a very nice smoke even though they went through some slight ups and downs......

[ehdg]

Love these when their first came out. Put down two boxes and stilll have some left ageing to see how much better with time they will get. Been about 6 months since my last one.

[rascalmonkey]

this was the first box of cubans i bought, ca. 2004... they were amazing!

[johnhenry]

Blew through a few boxes of these when they were fresh. They were wonderful ,I couldn't keep my hands off them.

I was telling a friend how I thought they were my favorite LE and he was kind enough to send me one. I will give it proper rest from the shipping and try it out when the tundra relents!

[TomGreen]

Great review! Thank you very much! Now I really consider to buy some of them, though still have to wait for salary:)

[mk05]

Past its prime for me. Sad. Still pretty good as a light smoke.