Partagas E No. 2 MAR 23 (FEBW1)

[Cello]

Where do I start. I was beyond excited when a dear friend of mine offered to trade me his newly acquired Partagas E No. 2. At some point early on in our friendship I mentioned how I really wanted to get my hands on some E 2. He happened to see some in a duty free and was nice enough to grab them with me in mind. He traded me 3 of them at a very fair price. I let them sit in my humidor for a few months to acclimate. Finally the night came for me to break one out. 

Got all my favorite beverages ready to enjoy with a highly anticipated cigar. 

Cut: nice mellow barnyard/ tobacco flavor. Picked up a hint of sweetness. Puffed on it for a few minutes while waiting on friends to arrive. 

Opening: things got off to a decent start. Nice and mellow smoke, but with no one flavor standing out. Not going to lie, I was expecting something to pop out, but that didn't happen initially. Not a bad thing, but I was just expecting something more. I thought I would get a little more of the sweetness I was tasting before lighting. All good, plenty of cigar left. 

2nd third: this started much like the first. Still waiting for the complexity and sweetness I tasted early on. Maybe I hoped for to much, maybe I smoked the first one to soon. Not bad, just had this really built up in my head. Getting some coffee flavors, things remain smooth and mild. 

Final third: right before entering the final third a change took place. Where have you been the first 2/3. Finally some complexity and flavor. Things got noticeably sweeter with a dash of baking spice. This flavor remained down to the end. 

Overall, I was not crushed, but was a little let down. I blame myself for expecting a life alerting moment, when I should have just looked to enjoy the cigar. If I had no expectations I'd have not felt let down. I'll let the last two sit for some time before revisiting them. Grade: I'd give this cigar a 79/100. 

My college coach told me C's get degrees. Nothing wrong with a high C, except when you study leading up to the test and think you'll get an A. Lucky I never studied so I was OK with a C, but in this case I really wanted an A. This cigar probably deserves an 85, but I subtracted 6 points since it made me sad. 

[MagicalBikeRide]

What a shame. These are top 5 cigars for me. And really really consistent. Better luck with your remaining sticks 🤞

[Li Bai]

4 hours ago, MagicalBikeRide said:

And really really consistent.

I'm happy for you about that because it has not been the case in my experience...

Those E2's are really good cigars but very often underfilled, they taught me to never buy CC's if I can't touch them before. My two cents...