H Upmann Half Corona SINGLE: Ode to the 40 and 42 gauge review week

[Guest Nekhyludov]

Dimensions: 44 x 3 1/2"

Box Code: Unknown

Date Purchased: April 17, 2017

Date Smoked: April 17, 2017

This was the first stick I burned out of a custom PC sampler - it never even made it into my desktop. I had no experience with the HC prior to this, but Upmann (along with Punch) is my preferred marca, and accounts for about 30% of my total inventory currently. My favorite thing about this cigar is that it takes exactly as long to smoke as it takes my wife to get ready to go out to dinner - 35 minutes. Perfect!

I broke this review down into halves instead of thirds because this cigar is just too short to evaluate in thirds.

Appearance and Aroma: This is an attractive little cigar, with a dark, shiny colorado wrapper. The aroma - well, I know nothing about that since I smoked it almost literally right off the truck. I think it still smelled like cardboard and packing peanuts.

First Half: It takes flame readily, producing a fine white ash. Immediately, from the very first draw, there are strong flavors of leather and shortbread, and a floral note in the pungent aroma. It's a classic H Upmann profile, but concentrated. The draw is perfect and produces copious smoke. An uneven light corrects itself with no intervention.

Second Half:  The flavors mellow and harmonize in near the midpoint. A hint of fruit emerges near the end. Due to its size, the flavors don't really evolve much, but remain pleasant. The slightly full body overwhelms a tea and lemon pairing, but the acidity from the lemon does open up the smoke profile a bit. 

I often see this cigar described as a short hit of Upmann shortbread and espresso, and I think that's a perfectly apt description. It's as though they were able to distill the two defining Upmann characteristics into one pungent little smoke. It doesn't evolve much, but then how could you expect it to? I don't think this is gonna make it into my regular rotation, but it's certainly a nice little before dinner smoke.

Score: 89

[TheMonk]

Another nice job, with a bit of age these tend to smoke very well!

[awk6898]

(edit) remove

[Guest Nekhyludov]

59 minutes ago, awk6898 said:

(edit) remove

Done! Thanks for the catch.

[PigFish]

Never had much luck with these... Thanks for the review!

Cheers! -Piggy

[rhcolbert]

Love em.  Good review!

[JohnS]

Awesome shorter smoke! Thanks for the review.