Partagás Culebra

[Black Plague]

Partagás

Culebra

5 3/4 x 39 Culebra (LOC ENE02)

Prelight: The LOC ENE02 box code indicates this culebra was produced at the Carlos Baliño (formerly El Rey del Mundo) Factory in Havana. Of course, being a culebra, it was both interesting and a little ugly. Twisted and strange-looking, the foot had taken on a rectangular shape, the cap was the typical conical mechanizado form. The colorado maduro wrapper had just a few dark oily stains and a lot of pale patches across it, especially around the numerous veins that protruded on the wrapper. But culebras aren't supposed to be pretty, now are they? After a nice, straight cut, the rest of the cap leaf came off, but thankfully the wrapper held down after a good lick and never presented any problems to me. Prelight draws gave a heady dose of Spanish cedar, with notes of pepper and citrus detectable under the woody bouquet.

Beverage: After a long dormancy, I decided to use my press pot instead of the drip machine to brew a strong cup of Ethiopian Harrar coffee.

Flavor: Very twangy tea-like flavor very common in aged sticks, but as noted it was much twangier than normal. I've come to the conclusion this tea flavor is most likely a result of the degradation of tannins in the cigar as the years go by (as tannins are also present in large quantities in tea leaves and tea leaves are always aged to mellow these tannins down, much like with cigars). The initial palate entry also presented a strong hot pepper taste, like the flesh of jalapeños and Scotch bonnets, mingled with the flavor of Spanish cedar on the tongue, and a lemon pepper finish.

After an inch of smoking, the flavors mellowed down considerably. The tea taste had fled, and in its place was a bitter cocoa and fragrant cedar mixture, with the sensation of grain of paradise peppers on the throat, lemon juice squeezed out over fresh-ground black peppercorns.

The aroma was incredibly strong and spicy, tingling my nose with abundant peppers and cedar.

Halfway through, the smoke was just getting mellower and mellower. The cedar had turned into a less fragrant woody sensation, coupled with what I can only describe as a slight "leafy" taste (not really grassy, not really herbal...almost like a salad leaf, with a crisp "green" flavor and slight bitter element). The black pepper and other spices had also grown considerably milder. This mellowing in the dominant tastes allowed the nuances to really shine through: among them was the taste of sweet cane juice and Southern sweet tea with a healthy squirt of lemon juice.

The final third saw the woody element taking a more exotic turn. The typical Partagás earthiness finally stood out on my palate as I nubbed this beauty. Overall, a medium-bodied cigar that at times leaned towards full.

Construction: A very well-constructed machine-made, an especially impressive feat owing to this cigar's unusual shape. Burned straight the entire time with no need for touch-ups. Draw was right on the mark. Slate gray ashes held very well and tapped off easily when needed. As mentioned above, wrapper leaf stayed on despite the lose of the rest of the cap leaf.

Summary: I tend to have bad luck with the Partagás marca. In the last year or so, my luck has really changed and I've managed to nab well-aged samples that highlight why this brand is so well-loved among cigar connoisseurs here and around the world. The Culebra is a fun cigar. The flavor profile isn't any real departure from other Partagás vitolas, hand-made or machine-made, but with some age is very satisfying and engaging. Rumor has it that Habanos SA is planning to once again release this cigar, but in a totally hand-made model! From the one picture I've seen on cA's website some months back, it only had one big Partagás band, so hopefully it'll become a world-wide release and not limited to one region, like the slew of recent new vitolas.

[El Presidente]

Great review BP

We hope to see some hand rolled Partagas Culebra's come February.

The Machine Made version was one of the best value cigars of all. It is a shame it was discontinued but it was never economical to produce.

[Tampa1257]

Excellent review!

Over the holidays, I was able to source a box of these machine made Culebras that were from 2000. They have not yet been down long enough to smoke and in all honesty, I was waiting until I could have a hand made version to be able to do a side by side comparison. Looking forward to being able to do that.

[Jimmy2]

Where the hell do you guys find these things ?

I looked all over for them i know they are more of a novelty but would love to have a machine made for my collection.

Anyone could steer me in the right direction would be appreciated.

I know the hand made are coming out will get plenty of them..