H Upmann Majestic SOP Nov 20 (CSSRW)

[Zaxeiler]

Had a chance to smoke a stick ROTT from a box procured here. The H Upmann Majestic a Corona 5 1/2 x 40.

It has a sweet spice and cinnamon aroma with a little must and earth on the foot. Cold draw is very tight, likely to need the PerfecDraw - but has cherry, peanuts, and spice.

Light up is dark and powerful but not harsh, black cherry, cashew, and earth. It is very plugged though, took three passes of the PerfecDraw (and I accidentally pierced the binder/wrapper). It has a surprising cream/butter texture and flavor to the smoke, which is pleasant while tasting darker and earthier flavors. After about an inch, more of the chocolate comes forward, but so does a new black pepper note.

By the middle, there is an unsweet cream that replaces the cashew butter, and more of a stone fruit comes forward. If the first third was Mag 46 + cashew, the middle is more Ramon Allones-esque. Was on an empty stomach and this had a strong nicotine hit, so didn’t finish the last third. Even burn and good smoke output. 

I often score in ways that mirror the bourbon/scotch personal systems that people setup. In that vein, here's a simple scale I often use for myself:

• 1/5 - Not worth ever smoking again
• 2/5 - Fine as a smoke when distracted (yardgar, etc.)
• 3/5 - A good stick, worthy of friends who don't smoke, unexceptional
• 4/5 - Great! Worth keeping a fiver or box on hand.
• 5/5 - Exceptionally rare. Truly for special occasions.

This stick was a solid 4/5 in that vein. Really good, like a mini Mag 46 at times, stone fruit at times, a great small vitola.

[Bijan]

  On 6/7/2022 at 12:54 PM, Zaxeiler said:

I often score in ways that mirror the bourbon/scotch personal systems that people setup. In that vein, here's a simple scale I often use for myself:

• 1/5 - Not worth ever smoking again
• 2/5 - Fine as a smoke when distracted (yardgar, etc.)
• 3/5 - A good stick, worthy of friends who don't smoke, unexceptional
• 4/5 - Great! Worth keeping a fiver or box on hand.
• 5/5 - Exceptionally rare. Truly for special occasions.

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I use the same scale, and I definitely think of 1/5 and 2/5 exactly how you describe them. 3, 4 and 5 are probably the same for me too, but I never thought about it too much.

I like this scale because of the consistency in ratings. Sometimes I smoke in winter and it's freezing, sometimes I smoke in summer and the weather is glorious. Sometimes I'm smoking at 4am after working 36 hour straight, sometimes I'm smoking at 2pm on a slow Friday. A 100 point scale is more expressive, but I think a 93pt and a 97pt cigar could end up swapping places depending on whether it's a good day or a bad day. With a 5/5 scale, it's a lot easier to be consistent.

[Zaxeiler]

  On 6/7/2022 at 1:47 PM, Bijan said:

A 100 point scale is more expressive, but I think a 93pt and a 97pt cigar could end up swapping places depending on whether it's a good day or a bad day. With a 5/5 scale, it's a lot easier to be consistent.

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Same! So much is situational, what your mindset is, even who recommended (like when someone you don’t appreciate recommends a band that you should otherwise love). That’s why for me, I like to keep things relative rather than with an “objective” number or score. 

[Connoisseur Kim]

  On 6/7/2022 at 12:54 PM, Zaxeiler said:

I often score in ways that mirror the bourbon/scotch personal systems that people setup. In that vein, here's a simple scale I often use for myself:

• 1/5 - Not worth ever smoking again
• 2/5 - Fine as a smoke when distracted (yardgar, etc.)
• 3/5 - A good stick, worthy of friends who don't smoke, unexceptional
• 4/5 - Great! Worth keeping a fiver or box on hand.
• 5/5 - Exceptionally rare. Truly for special occasions.

Expand  

I'm using 0-100 scales for rating cigars so far, but I found it can be complicated and sometimes unclear in terms of score difference (e.g. 80s for bad CCs and 90s for good CCs). So, I'm considering using 0-5 scales for Kimfessions Series instead of 0-100 scales for convenience and clarity 😃.

My 0-5 scales will look like:

• 0/5: "Dante's Inferno"
• 1/5: "Nightmare Fuel"
• 2/5: "Dog Rocket"
• 3/5: "Good"
• 4/5: "Magnificent"
• 5/5: "Paragon of Cigars"

[Frinkiac7]

Always wanted to try these. Thanks for the review