Bolivar Petite Corona ULA AGO 14 (BRW)

[PointFivePast]

Finally a chance to review one of my BPCs! This is actually the first box of Cuban cigars I ever ordered of which I have 9 remaining. The distinction of first box I ever bought actually goes to a box of Partagas Toppers purchased in 2006 or maybe early 2007 but those were on a break coming home from university and we promptly smoke all of them over the break... wish I still had a few! In any case, I’ve been saving these Bolivars but wanting to revisit them. I promised myself I would wait until they came up on a Review Weekend and so you can imagine my joy when Bolivar was the theme! 
 

These sticks are just gorgeous to start with. Beautiful golden wrappers that are “the color of a baby camel” as one of my clients at work would say. Aroma at cold is sweet honey, toasted barley, and a hint of leather. Cold draw doubles down on the leather with a faint sweetness reminiscent of molasses. 

 

1/3

Starts our with pure sweetness like simple syrup and heavy floral notes. Incredibly creamy with no suggestion of the youthful mongrel Bolivar can have when young... age has done these well. Paired this cigar with a pu-erh tea and after a sip a soft chocolate flavor appears but I’m unsure of whether it is from the tea or the cigar as neither presents it when sampled alone. After an inch or so, the sweetness has developed in to mild honey and a pistachio characteristic is apparent in the retrohale. Together it makes the most unique flavor of sensation of baklava; it’s as though I just ate a bite and breathed out my nose right after swallowing. This lasts for a bit and is immensely enjoyable.

2/3

Vanilla and leather mark the intro to the second third and something else I can’t put my finger on... like the smell of an old library book but the good kind, not the bad kind. Please tell me I’m not the only one who ever smells library books! Floral notes return and the creaminess with them but it is now slightly tangy in a pleasant way. Get to chatting in the smoking area and the cigar goes out but on relight the honey returns, very full flavored like a good, dark, raw honey.

3/3

Now there’s a bit of that Bolivar strength! Tannin starts to show as we get down to the end. Creaminess still in there as well as a bit of spice, cinnamon mostly, that mixes in. Leather and earth as this cigar fades out. Security guard at my building has been chatting with me so my notes are minimal for this section and I’ve only got one picture of the cigar lit but the company is appreciated. Even at the end this cigar is still smokable and I nubbed it for sure.

 

Conclusion

Absolutely delightful stick with five years of age. I really ought to buy a couple new boxes of these to stash away for 2025. The creaminess has really come out in a way I never expected when I first got these... almost reminded of some H. Upmann with the sweetness of a Hoyo de Monterrey. I’ll give this a solid 93/100 and say these could still hold on for at least two or three years. I won’t be in any rush to finish off this box!

[MigsG]

Very good review! 

I don't know what has happened to the last of my '17 BPCs but they have lost that baklava honey sweetness and dark chocolate and evolved into a creamy strong earthiness. I need new sticks!