H. Upmann Belvedere

[Black Plague]

I've been working second shift this whole week. Coming back at 12:00 AM, I was suddenly struck with the desire to have a little midnight breakfast. So I whipped a quick batch of little silver dollar pancakes, a few slices of bacon, both topped with some honey maple syrup, and a piping hot cup of good coffee. After enjoying my late night breakfast, it was time to lay back on the couch with my coffee and light up a nice cigar to top the night off.

H. Upmann

Belvedere

5 x 39 Belvedere

Prelight: This cigar possessed the old school Cuban mechanizado look. A roughly-applied conical cap, a mottled and wrinkly colorado maduro wrapper, stained with oil, having an ever so slight taper towards the foot. Box-pressed. This cigar must've been especially oil younger in life, owing to the dark stains on the wrapper and on the gold and red H. Upmann band. The cigar cut very nicely and felt firm. Prelight draws hinted at toasted tobacco, peppery spice, and a slight minty sensation.

Beverage: Medium-roasted Ethiopian Harrar coffee

Flavor: The flavor profile was pretty consistent from light to the final draw. Starting off, the flavor was a medley of exotic wood, dry toasted tobacco, bitter sensations on the throat of cocoa and coffee, spicy peppers on the tongue, a very earthy finish and a strong mid-palate flavor like ripe black olives.

The aroma was warm and spicy, hinting at the olives also present in the taste. At one-third, the finish grew increasingly woody, black pepper came forward, a sweet and spicy flavor developed on the tongue, a very subtle saltiness at times, crowned off by nuances of the defining H. Upmann "musty" flavor, but this was not nearly as dominant a dimension as in other H. Upmann models. The smoke left a very long, lingering spice on the finish, with a tinge of bitter herbs.

In the final third, the smoke grew increasingly spicier. The finish developed nuances of cinnamon powder and dark espresso. Never grew hot, bitter, or tarry.

Construction: The ash was an eye-pleasing powdery white, streaked with dark stripes of black. The burn started off a bad runner on one side, but behaved itself after a corrective touch from the lighter. The draw started a tad on the tight side, but gradually loosened to more acceptable resistance level.

Summary: A nice little cigar to relax to. I have no idea what the age of this one was, but I'd venture to guess it must have a few years on it, judging by the oil stains on the band and the complexity of flavor. Not really a great cigar, but a good one for the purpose I chose it for: just a short smoke to relax to while watching TV. Have a Happy New Year, guys, and a good cigar!

[Tampa1257]

Very Nice review of a not mentioned too often cigar!

[Colt45]

Thanks for the review! Just for the sake of conversation, if you were

doing it again, and could choose between this cigar, and other

similar sizes, say Monte #5, Partagas Short, RASCC, etc, what

would you choose?

[atomross13]

very nice review

[Miami101]

Thanks for the review: Those late nights are very hard.

[greenpimp]

Nice review. I have some 91s that have been great. Thought MRN was nuts with his decription of an olive flavor, but I tasted it. GREEN Olive for me though! Black olive---What are YOU tasting? LOL. :-P

[jqmunro]

Nice Review... Also, I love Ethiopian Coffee... Harrar, and especially Yirgacheffe

[Black Plague]

» Nice review. I have some 91s that have been great. Thought MRN was nuts

» with his decription of an olive flavor, but I tasted it. GREEN Olive for

» me though! Black olive---What are YOU tasting? LOL. :-P

I tasted that flavor before in other Upmanns....but I could never quite put my finger on what exactly it tasted like until I read MRN's description, and bam! Olive is the perfect description.

[stever]

Well done review. I like Upmanns, but have yet to try this one.