Partagas Lusitania - ABU ABR 18 (L&SRW2)*

[shippers]

I haven't had a Lusi for a while the weather has been too cold. While I love the DC/Churchill formats it would be a shame to ditch one prematurely due to blue fingers. So, I have great admiration for members from truly cold countries! But the weather last weekend got a little warmer so it was the perfect excuse to break one out:

This was from a 10 count box picked up from Habana Libre a few years ago. A really delicate and glossy medium grained wrapper. The draw was firm but in a good way - so all signs are looking good so far. I get settled into my pairing for the cigar - a Chenin Blanc from South Africa. I know nothing about wine but a white seems to go well with cigars in my experience and makes a change from my usual choice of whisky. The tasting notes suggest peach and tropical fruits which seems about right.

The first third starts off well - quite dry but getting a latte creamy coffee off the first few puffs and a touch of saline. As the first third continued that Partagas spice started to reveal itself and combined with the general sweetness came across as cinnamon rather than the paprika typically picked up on other FoH reviews.

Cream starts to build in the second third introducing some nut flavours - perhaps walnut or pecan depending on how sweet that particular puff was. Lots of transitions going on and as the third progresses the cigar picks up a leathery mouth feel and drops in sweetness becoming more savoury. Instead of cream its now more like bread liberally applied with lashings of salted butter.

I must admit in the final third I was paying less attention than the cigar deserved (a combination of a Zoom call with mates and too much wine perhaps!) but my half legible notes say the spice turned more to clove as the sweetness continued to transition to that savoury buttered bread. The construction was spot on - burn was great and only required a relight when I was talking too much! I had a pretty disappointing Cohiba Talisman last week and this beat that by a very long way. 

89/100

[PuroDan]

Nice review

[Goodfortune]

Enjoyed the review. Love when I can make time for a Lusi.

[Bijan]

Great review!

[Corylax18]

I'm a big fan of Lusi's and RyJ Churchills in this size range. Great cigars to kick back with for a couple hours.

Did you enjoy the Wine/pairing? I recently tried a Hawaiian Sparking Wine made from 100% Chenin Blanc grapes and was very pleasantly surprised. I wasnt expecting much, but it was very crisp/clean. A bit linear, but for $45 a bottle, I was happy with it. 

[shippers]

10 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

I'm a big fan of Lusi's and RyJ Churchills in this size range. Great cigars to kick back with for a couple hours.

Did you enjoy the Wine/pairing? I recently tried a Hawaiian Sparking Wine made from 100% Chenin Blanc grapes and was very pleasantly surprised. I wasnt expecting much, but it was very crisp/clean. A bit linear, but for $45 a bottle, I was happy with it. 

Absolutely - really enjoy the cigars in this format although I haven't tried all of them yet...

I know so little about Wine - I buy it in a very unscientific way - from the supermarket and in a certain price point 😂. But much as you describe it was crisp, and the soft and tropical fruits seemed to work quite well. If I go for wine with a cigar I usually go for Riesling instead but this was a nice change.

Whisky is my usual go to but it does make reviewing the cigar harder sometimes I think due to the ABV and strong flavours competing. It is not impossible to pair well but certainly more challenging.