Quai D\'Orsai Panetellas 01

[Van55]

Smoked this one 11/13 accompanied by black Bali Hai coffee

Prelight: Long, skinny, medium brown colored cigar. No obvious flaws. Toasty tobacco aroma at the foot. Sent to me from California by a generous member of cigarfamily.com, arriving on my desk this morning. No chance to acclimate to my preferred storage conditions. This was the first of these that I have tried. Based on the size and year, I feared a tight draw, but the draw was perfect. No distinctive flavors before lighting.

First 1/3: It requires patience to enjoy a narrow gauge cigar like this. "Sipping: is the key, lest it overheat, First impression was softness on the palate but sharpness through the nose. The aftertaste was a tad bitter at first. Once again I simply could not define this as a milld cigar at this point, though I can see how certain smokers could. The full flavors came through only by taking a mouthful of smoke, opening my mouth with closed lips and rolling the smoke all around my mouth to the back of my tongue and then gently expelling through my nose, Puffing in and simply blowing out was distinctly unsatisfying. I was so careful to smoke slowly that it went out before the one inch mark. Relit fine. Behind the toasted tobacco was a distinct citrus undertone. Near the end of this third I thought this was the mildest of the Q D'O cigars I have smoked, but it remained elegant and flavorful.

Second 1/3: The ash was light gray. The flavors turned a bit earthy and somber. As I find characteristic of thin cigars, the flavors were quite concentrated. St the midway point, it picked up some very nice bite -- no trace of bitterness was left. Wonderful! Became pungent without overpowering. Outstanding toasted, distinctively Cuban -- pardon the cliche -- "twang" for want of a better description. Fabulous through the nose, with a long, luscious finish,

Final 1/3: What is it about Cuban cigars that so many of them put themselves out right at about this point? Second relight. Going out did nothing to diminish the enjoyment. Picked up strength, but maintained excellent balance and complexity. A truly pleasurable ride!

Conclusion: I was anticipating disappointment and was pleasantly stunned by this cigar. It started off a bit iffy, but the last two thirds bordered on exceptional. A solid four smoke rings, verging on five. I want more of these!

Prelight:

Foot:

Head:

Midway through -- the best part of a very fine cigar:

Nubbed it:

[El Presidente]

Fantastic Review Van on a cigar I have all but forgotten about.

You have peaked my interest to pull together a few boxes.

[broozer]

now that i have found some of these i need to pick up 2-3 boxes. these buggers are extremely hard to find.

bruce

[GP012]

Sounds good! I'll have to try and get my hands on some.