Partagas 898 14/15 (DRRW)

[Chas.Alpha]

I picked this box up last time I was in Germany, (2016). I was very excited to find it, as I had never had an 898, but Partagas would be considered my go-to brand if there is such a thing...

I laid these down for a year before I tried the first stick, so anticipation certainly had grabbed hold.

That cigar was so hopelessly plugged that I couldn’t get past the first inch or so. Major disappointment. I returned to the box a couple of months later, hoping that I had picked the bad stick on my previous attempt. No such luck. The next one was plugged as bad as the first. After smoking (and poking) my way through the top 17 cigars, I have all but given up on this box. 
 

Since this is the Dog Rocket review, and I haven’t tried for a year or so, I got my hopes up that MAYBE this time would be different, 18’s a charm and all...

 

Nope. Every cigar in this box was rolled using some sort of newspaper crushing machine. I had taken to using a stainless skewer to jam my way through the knots, and #18 is no different. I got enough poked through on this one so the draw was like sucking a golf ball through a garden hose. Minimal combustion, sore cheeks.

With respect to the DRRW, I pulled my way to the end.

Some pleasant Partagas flavors, on the odd moment when my eyes weren’t buggering out from the draw. This is a gorgeous cigar, worthy of being photographed. I’d likely have been happier smoking the photo. This was a grudge match, and the grudges won...

6 more left of these Psycho Hose Beasts. They’ll undoubtedly be some of the last cigars that I have in 30 years. 

Maybe they’ll have righted themselves by then?

[Sudzdaddy]

70%+ failure rate?  You’ve got my condolences.  ?

I want to say statistically your luck is due to change, but can’t fault your optimism for waning...

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  ? 

[Wailbait]

Wondering if this is an RAE 15 box of 898.  I had some plugs from that factory and year.  

[Chas.Alpha]

16 hours ago, Wailbait said:

Wondering if this is an RAE 15 box of 898.  I had some plugs from that factory and year.  

Possibly. The date/code were on the paper shroud around the box, which has long ago disappeared. I might have rolled the shroud up and smoked it, out of frustration? ?

[RDB]

What an absolute horror show. A whole dud box of 898s.

This weekend’s reviews are curiously uplifting in the sense of ‘it can always be worse’!