H. Upmann Half Corona variance

[Bigpink]

Hi friends,

I'm on my second box of HU HCs. The first box was amazing-- light tan colored wrappers, and seriously powerful powdered donut/shortbread/cherry flavors. I blasted through that box very quickly.

The box I'm working with now has the same date code as the first, but was made in a different factory. The wrappers on these are pretty dark comparatively, some venturing into rosado territory. Even though these have the same amount of age as the last they seem to be nowhere near close to being smokable. Very rough with a lot of ammonia. The flavors that are there are quite different from the first box-- they have a little bit of a RyJ blend vibe to them.

I've got another box on the way in the meantime, and I'm crossing my fingers they are closer to the first in color and flavor. Do they normally have this much variance? Those who have experience with the HC's with darker wrappers-- do they take a lot longer to acclimate than their lighter counterparts?

Here's a photo of the box with the darker colored wrappers.

[Hammer Smokin']

I believe they do, yes. 

I know the darker wrappers get a lot of love around here, and mainly drive the PSP rating, but they certainly can be a pain. 

[SCgarman]

4 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

I believe they do, yes. 

I know the darker wrappers get a lot of love around here, and mainly drive the PSP rating, but they certainly can be a pain. 

I tend to actually dislike the darker wrappers. Call me crazy but light brown wrappered cigars just seem to taste better to my palate. I have had RASS with colorado-colorado-claro wrappers and RASS with colorado-maduro wrappers and they are two totally different cigars. I will take the lighter shade wrappers 24/7/365. Even in the Upmann marca, the PC, Connie#1, Upmann#2 are all fantastic with the lighter brown shades of wrapper leaf. 

[Hammer Smokin']

i agree...but realize i'm in the minority

[DanWil84]

five pack of tins, the wrappers of 2 tins were rosado, others where more natural. I do actually like the rosado more, bit fuller body.


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[Bigpink]

37 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

I believe they do, yes. 

I know the darker wrappers get a lot of love around here, and mainly drive the PSP rating, but they certainly can be a pain. 

Copy that, that's what I assumed. They were still pretty wet when I received them 6 or so weeks ago. I can't handle the wait and keep dipping in, only to get rejected by the ammonia gods.

[Huckleberry]

I really like darker wrappers in the Monte line, possibly even in the RyJ line as well as on the Serie D No. 4 Partagas.  I prefer them lighter on H Upmann and HdM.  The more maduro looking an RASS can get the better for me there as well.  Prefer them lighter but not too light on the Juan Lopez line mostly.  Yah, I am all messed up in the head I think.

[Bigpink]

2 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

I really like darker wrappers in the Monte line, possibly even in the RyJ line as well as on the Serie D No. 4 Partagas.  I prefer them lighter on H Upmann and HdM.  The more maduro looking an RASS can get the better for me there as well.  Prefer them lighter but not too light on the Juan Lopez line mostly.  Yah, I am all messed up in the head I think.

I agree with you pretty much all the way. It's not that I don't enjoy darker wrappers, I just guess I prefer lighter shade Colorado with Upmann.

[asmazda]

I had exactly same experience 

1 hour ago, Bigpink said:

Hi friends,

I'm on my second box of HU HCs. The first box was amazing-- light tan colored wrappers, and seriously powerful powdered donut/shortbread/cherry flavors. I blasted through that box very quickly.

The box I'm working with now has the same date code as the first, but was made in a different factory. The wrappers on these are pretty dark comparatively, some venturing into rosado territory. Even though these have the same amount of age as the last they seem to be nowhere near close to being smokable. Very rough with a lot of ammonia. The flavors that are there are quite different from the first box-- they have a little bit of a RyJ blend vibe to them.

I've got another box on the way in the meantime, and I'm crossing my fingers they are closer to the first in color and flavor. Do they normally have this much variance? Those who have experience with the HC's with darker wrappers-- do they take a lot longer to acclimate than their lighter counterparts?

Here's a photo of the box with the darker colored wrappers.

I had exactly same experience as you.

[Hammer Smokin']

darker wrapper Cohiba's are not what I want to see...ever.

So many Cohiba's coming out of Cuba that resemble the Maduro line. 

[Meesterjojo]

I'll tell you, the best box of D4s I ever got are black as a kettle. But they're so damn great. Now I have two other boxes that are a pale cream off white, which is very unusual for a D4. I've got about 500 of these but near white sticks are as unusual as the black. 

So I reckon what I'm saying is that it's possible. Smoke one. They look tasty.

[El Presidente]

Upmann works best for me with nice Colorado wrappers. Colorado with sheen if you can find them. 

[djrey]

In general I find darker cigar to be more full bodied and therefore can use a bit more time down. I personally like this. Just got these in today. They will go away for 3-4 years while I work in my lighter boxes.