H Upmann Magnum 46 OER JUL ‘21 (HURW)

[Capn_Jackson]

H Upmann Magnum 46, OER JUL ‘21

Pretty warm day, about 95 on the porch. The kind of day that makes me wish I had an air-conditioned smoking room. About to light up my first Mag 46, from a box I got a few months ago. This cigar has a beautiful reddish-brown color and a firm pack. Kind of an oily-looking wrapper. Barnyard aroma, with cherries and cocoa on the cold draw. Trying this today with a straight cut. Right away, I can tell this draw will be problematic. Extremely tight. I’m having this one with just some unflavored seltzer water. Like I said, I’ve never had the Magnum 46, so I want my impressions to be unhindered by a strong drink. I light this up at 2:15pm, right in the hottest part of the day.

On the opening draw, I notice leather and nuts, with a slight bit of dark cherry and butterscotch. Going into the first part, the leather sticks around as well as some dried stone fruit on the palate. Secondary is a wood that I can’t quite place... somewhere between rich oak and tangy hickory. Things are a little more nutty on the retrohale, which is unusual for me. Normally I get more sweet spices and bread on the retro, but here it’s very savory in the nose, at least to start with. The finish is kind of semi-dark chocolate, with a tiny bit of black pepper that later fades. Strength seems about med-full, and the texture oily and viscous. All good things to start with, except for a severely tight draw. I keep the bulk of my smokes at 65%, but maybe I should put these in the 62% box a couple weeks before smoking. I’m having to fully attack this thing with the PerfectDraw tool, multiple times, and finally get a firm but workable draw. Note the amount of tobacco removed. A little bit more and I could just throw it in a pipe!

Maybe things will settle down, but I start to sense that this is way too young. I like mongrel sometimes, actually quite a lot, but this one is a little wild. There’s potential for refinement, though. Right now it’s Strider, but it could be Aragorn in a year or ....four. I’m hoping for some graham cracker/caramel notes, or maybe more of the dried fruit I found at the very beginning.

So around the middle I think I’m getting a picture of what this cigar COULD be. A little stone fruit comes back, kind of dark cherry, along with some great leather and sweet cocoa notes. Every few puffs I also get some cinnamon and orange peel. I almost left this sucker in the ashtray to die an honorable but unfulfilling death, but I’m glad I persisted. The frustration of that first third, though, is going to keep the rest of this box buried for quite a long time. The finish has taken on a slightly burnt caramel and bitter cocoa, both in a good way. I wish the first third had been like this. Still some mongrel, but much more enjoyable. Not as unruly as the opening half hour was.

By the last third, this cigar is smoking beautifully, both in draw and flavor. The flavor I’m getting is mostly leather. Some citrus is still developing, a little maple, and the woody notes have finally settled on oak. Some mongrel still underneath everything, but I don’t mind that. Dark cherry also makes a few more pleasant appearances. It’s hard to nail down what the finish is at this point; cocoa, leather, and charred maple maybe.

Unfortunately, as I get to the “Magnum 46” band, the cigar keeps randomly going out, mere seconds after puffing. I re-light it a few times, but the poor guy just gets too darn hot and the flavor too charred. I put it down at about 3:40,  so I got nearly an hour and a half out of it. I give today’s smoke an 87, mostly because of the burn problems and tough beginning. More time, more time. I’ve always heard great things about the Mag 46, but today’s smoke was rough. Think I’ll put one of them in my 62% stock for a few weeks and try again, but keep the rest of this box deep in the wineador for a long, long time. We’ll see what happens.

Cheers!

[MossybackR]

On 9/25/2022 at 8:23 PM, Capn_Jackson said:

I’m having to fully attack this thing with the PerfectDraw tool, multiple times, and finally get a firm but workable draw.

I also thought that draw problems were primarily due to lack of age; but I started checking cigar weights and realized that all too often, they are overfilled. There are several threads about this and references for standard weights by marcas. I’ve found more problems with older cigars and have tried to pay attention to the quality the draw before even touching a lighter. 

[Capn_Jackson]

5 hours ago, MossybackR said:

There are several threads about this and references for standard weights by marcas. 

I’ve seen these threads but haven’t opened them to reference. Good resource!

[Man D'olin]

Got lucky unplugging an overfilled Partagas P2 last week inserting my little Case Pen Knife- didn't lose any tobacco.  Sometimes you just get lucky.

[Capn_Jackson]

Last weekend, a friend of mine put his PerfectDraw in a power drill chuck, and carefully but forcibly went at an Upmann #2 that was plugged. More than a little liquor was consumed before he had this idea, but it was effective! He went at both ends of the stick with the “PerfectDrill”