Partagas Short

I've discovered since my recent introduction to enjoying fine cigars is that they can take up considerable time to smoke and can get rather expensive. So, in an effort to save on both I've decided to review a few short cigars and hopefully find one that i can make my regular smoke. One that is still superb quality but only takes half an hour or so to smoke and that does not break the bank to buy. The three that I've gone with for now are the Partagas Short, Cohiba Siglo I and MonteC No. 5. The first to be reviewed is the Partagas Short.

This week the venue for the review was more exotic than just my cramped study and I headed off to the beach with my wife, my dog and my Partages Short - my wife is an aspiring photographer and wanted some sunset shots at the beach, so photos are compliments of her.

Here are the results of the Partagas review:

Cigar summary

Origin: Cuba

Ring gauge: 42

Length: 4 3/8

Manufactured: Hand made

Maturity: 1 week

Construction: Excellent

Draw: Poor

Strength: Medium at first and developing to full later on

Taste: Strong pepper with some spice

Burn: Became better after about half way but needed some patching up before then

Guy's rating (70-100): 87

General comments:

 

The draw let this one down, I had cramp in my ckeeks at one point due to having to pull so hard. The flavours in the dry draw were just fantastic and made me really excited to light this one up, nice pleasant hints of aniseed.

 

Off the bat the flavours were mild peppery, earthy and woody and these dominated through the entire smoke. The 2nd third flavours possibly developed a bit with the pepper becoming a little more spicy and perhaps a slight introduction to some sweetness. The draw was still tight but I was enjoying the smoke (but maybe more for the scenic view) and the tight draw was making the smoke last longer :)

 

Overall the smoke volume was small, the flavours were okay but one dimensional and the the draw tight. However the flavours weren't bad, the price is right and other reviews on the web rate this quite highly so I haven't completely ruled this one out and will maybe give it another go at some point.