Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No.1

[Colt45]

Received a couple of singles just over a year ago - no codes.

Construction, wrapper, draw, burn, and smoke volume were all excellent.

Unlit smell was floral with a pungent underlying stench (meant in the best

possible way). Prelight draw was subdued dry cocoa.

Taste: Cardboard sprinkled with a little bit of white pepper. Insipid. It's only

redeeming quality was a buttery mouthfeel. Bored me nearly to tears. 83.

[bassman]

Sorry to hear that. My 98s are strong, earthy & delicious.

[shrink]

What a shame. Maybe a problem with provenance. This cigar is one of my all-time favorites. I have smoked examples from '97, '98, '00, '03, and '06. All have been good to outstanding, with the best years being '98 and '03. The '06 have enormous potential, and are well worth putting away.

Without a doubt, the most complex Partagas I've ever smoked, medium to full-bodied, with aged leather, sweet wood, and cinnamon spice, and loads of twang and pepper on the finish. Yum!

[josie67]

Yup, the few I got from Lisa were spicy and DELICIOUS.

[El Presidente]

» Received a couple of singles just over a year ago - no codes.

»

» Construction, wrapper, draw, burn, and smoke volume were all excellent.

»

» Unlit smell was floral with a pungent underlying stench (meant in the best

»

» possible way). Prelight draw was subdued dry cocoa.

»

» Taste: Cardboard sprinkled with a little bit of white pepper. Insipid.

» It's only

» redeeming quality was a buttery mouthfeel. Bored me nearly to tears. 83.

Something is certainly wrong.

Boring is a term I have never used with this cigar :-)

[Tampa1257]

» Taste: Cardboard sprinkled with a little bit of white pepper. Insipid.

» It's only

» redeeming quality was a buttery mouthfeel. Bored me nearly to tears. 83.

Wow, I'm speachless. Something is not right at all. The PSdC No.1 is one of the most complex Habanos that I have ever smoked consistantly. While I will say they need to be smoked slowly so as not to burn hot, but the word "Cardboard"???? "Boring"????? Never.

[Loki]

Mine are from april 05 and are simply marvelous. Should have bought

a couple of more boxes.

[Colt45]

Gentlemen. Friends. I give you my assurance that these samples were kept as any

great cigar should be. I want to like these, and refuse to give up hope - I will try

some No. 3s when I can.

Though my "review" was rather abrupt, I should have added that I do feel this one

had potential. The recurring dilemna is, do I buy a box or boxes with the hope that

they come around?

Shrink, if provenance is an issue, then a number of us are in peril, and someone

near and dear to us all would have some serious 'splainin' to do

P.S. as I often do after posting on a cigar, I went back and read reviews on this one,

and my own comment on my first try was not much different than this one.

[genevapics]

The recurring dilemna is, do I buy a box or boxes with the

» hope that

» they come around?

» Shrink, if provenance is an issue, then a number of us are in peril, and

» someone

» near and dear to us all would have some serious 'splainin' to do

Colt, I would be willing to do a box split with you, even if the provenance is Rob... LOL. Seriously though, if you would like to do a split on the Partagas SdC No.1, No.2 or No.3 email me bro.

[Guest crossbow]

»

» Taste: Cardboard sprinkled with a little bit of white pepper. Insipid.

» It's only

» redeeming quality was a buttery mouthfeel. Bored me nearly to tears. 83.

Sorry you feel this way..

I love this cigar.

[Colt45]

» Colt, I would be willing to do a box split with you

Thank you. I'll keep this in mind, and when I'm ready to spring, I'll

drop you a line.

[genevapics]

» » Colt, I would be willing to do a box split with you

»

» Thank you. I'll keep this in mind, and when I'm ready to spring, I'll

» drop you a line.

Sounds good.

[El Presidente]

Ross...I will have Lise shoot you a couple of 06's to try. Make a comparison ;-)

[cigardawg]

» Sorry to hear that. My 98s are strong, earthy & delicious.

Can I get an AMEN? AMEN!

[Colt45]

By the good graces of Caesar and his Senate (beware the ides of March), I have

some '06 samples, and tried my first.

Construction: Very good, firm, correct heft, showed a nice foot.

Wrapper: Medium colorado, with a very nice sheen. Relatively vein free.

Draw: Using the Well Armed method of a sharp knife for a Cuban cut, revealed a

hump at the head, and initial pre-light draw was tight. Resorted to the xikar, and

clipped the hump - draw now perfect. Ash was rather flaky and tended to drop.

Good smoke volume.

Taste: This one meandered over the duration - as complex a cigar as I can recall

in recent memory. Started with supple leather and white pepper.

Draws started as leather, turned into unsweetend cooking chocolate, and finished

with floral overtones - nice.

Soft mouthfeel - palate coating. Some draws showed blasts of black pepper, some

were deeply earthy and pungent. There were some bland draws from time to time -

no problem.

Overall it was medium-full in body. Smooth and well balanced, if not totally

integrated at this time. With a little less than two inches to go, it showed it's youth,

becoming somewhat herbal, and I set it down.

Needless to say, I'm now quite intrigued. Provisional 90.

[Colt45]

» By the good graces of Caesar and his Senate , I have

» some '06 samples, and tried my first

As a follow up, after I posted my review in February, I thought about some of the

discussions we've had, particularly regarding blend consistency.

If I recall correctly, I believe Rob had mentioned that if a roller had a quota for the

day, and ran out of some of the tobacco for a particular blend, that instead of not

completing the quota, they'd substitute tobacco.

Comparing the two cigars, I'd have to think that might be the case with the

February cigar (and another previous sample) Perhaps intentionally, or even

unintentionally, there was no ligero? Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks again to Czar and Crew, and to you members for your postings on this

cigar.

[Cam]

They're always nice to me, I give all my cigars the *you were a good cigar* speech before smoking, it rids the air of any tension between us, this way I can be sure of a pleasant smoking experience... :-D

[Mel]

Amen on the 98's are very good. I'm not one of those skinnier is better bet these are pretty darn good. The thin gauge cigar need a different style of smoking. Maybe the problem is you? You are probably just sucking to hard and rough. Easy does it there you brute of a man.

[stickman]

You are probably just sucking to hard

» and rough. Easy does it there you brute of a man.

I had a girl freind like that in high school...I really hated to see her move away

stick

[Colt45]

» Maybe the problem is you? You are probably just sucking to hard

» and rough. Easy does it there you brute of a man.

I don't want to get you all hot and bothered, but my oral prowess is renowned

both near and far.

[wp2]

» » I had a girl freind like that in high school...I really hated to see her

» move away

»

»

» stick

But could she suck the chrome off a trailer hitch, like some I knew after high school?

:-D

[El Presidente]

» You are probably just sucking to hard

» » and rough. Easy does it there you brute of a man.

»

» I had a girl freind like that in high school...I really hated to see her

» move away

»

»

» stick

.....yes....happy days.

Ross, I am thankfull that the 06 PSDC1's hit the mark. They are consistent with what I expect a Connie 1 to be.

Just a clarification on Blend inconsistency. The decision as to blend is not up to the roller. He is given he leaf to work with.

I know of examples where a factory has a certain run of Siglo VI's to make (say 26,000). They make 22,000 but run out of the Ligero they were using and so substitue another for the balance 4000. This does occur and can completely alter the cigar.

[Colt45]

» I know of examples where a factory has a certain run of Siglo VI's to make

» (say 26,000). They make 22,000 but run out of the Ligero they were using

» and so substitue another for the balance 4000.

Meaning they are still using ligero, but not the exact same ligero?

They would not substitute the ligero with a different priming?

Thanks!

[El Presidente]

»

» Meaning they are still using ligero, but not the exact same ligero?

» They would not substitute the ligero with a different priming?

»

» Thanks!

In an example I know to have occured, they substituted a Ligero into a Cohiba run. The Ligero was not triple fermented and from a different district. This ocured in a regional factory and I know that Habanos s.a blew up because they discovered it by chance through a drop in visit.

Sometimes production numbers for factory managers are more important than quality control. Certainly not all...this would not happen at Upmann, Partagas, El Habanero, El Laguito or La Corona.

[Colt45]

» Sometimes production numbers for factory managers are more important than

» quality control. Certainly not all...this would not happen at Upmann,

» Partagas, El Habanero, El Laguito or La Corona.

I know we've discussed some of this before, and not to take this thread too far off

topic, but is there a plan to combat this in the future? Would they be allowed to stop

the run until re-supplied with the proper tobacco?