Partagas Maduro No. 1 TOS OCT 16 (PAWRC)

[5thStarChicago]

The Partagas Maduro No.1 is one of my favorite cigars and really the only regular production cigars that I keep multiple boxes of.  I've never left Havana without one and have acquired them from Prez as well.  I find that they smoke great young or fresh and while there some variance from batch to batch they are relatively consistant (especially for Habanos).  I'm anxiously awaiting the eventual (supposed) release of the new formats. 

This particular box cigar was acquired in Havana and I haven't smoked many from it so I thought this would be a fitting time.

At light up it had more spice than usual along with a toasted sweetness.   The spice was heavier than usual and was a bit unbalanced.  It had a bit of a tang on the retrohale that was also a little odd.  Fortunately, about 2 minutes in and everything calmed down and became more familiar.  

 

Everything settled in, the tang was gone, the spice settled down a lot and toasted dark chocolate bitter sweetness really started to shine with a little saltiness to round it out.  The profile is fantastic and this cigar still has plenty of Cuban sweet spice but the wrapper adds a toasted cocoa that comes off great and that tip of the tongue sweetness is why I keep buying these.  The balance between the flavor and strength (medium bodied) is superb.  I cracked a bottle of Lavery Brewing Devil Bird Bourbon Barreled Aged Porter and heaped on the flavor.  I enjoyed it so much I forgot to take any more photos. 

I have no idea what to grade this but they will forever be in my rotation and in quantity.  This example started off harsher than others but wasted little time getting to where it should be.  I'll stash the remainder of this box for a bit longer and see what happens.

Cheers!