CIGAR TASTING NOTES

Recently, we at Taylors Tobacconists made a significant collection of rare cigars available for sale. It is hard to find single cigars for sale in the shop or online of great quality but we have a collection of some shockingly rare and unique cigars. These are cigars from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaraguan even Mexico.

The cigars date back a full century. It seems to me that the best way to talk about these cigars and my tasting notes. When I write tasting notes, I do it while smoking the cigar. So you will see that the flavour at the beginning of the note may be different from the end. These are unedited, but give the real impression of the smoking experience. While there are about 60 cigars in the collection, Have selected the ones that are best to share with you.

1- Partagas Lusitanias:

Being 50 years old is quite an accomplishment for a cigar. This cigar seems to be of a low grade. The head has a hole in it. The band looks in perfect condition and the wrapper is majestic. This cigar was one of the most popular long sizes. The flavours that remain in this cigar include toasted peanuts, oats and an aftertaste of leafy greens. One needs to concentrate on the smoke to observe the flavours until the cigar burns midway, then it’s easier to taste the cigar clearly. It is creamy smoke with nutmeg flavours. The latter half of the smoke is quite enjoyable. It takes on aromas of dark woods and bark.

2 – Cohiba Siglo VI:

Cuban Cohiba cigars are prolific today but this is the first one I have smoked that has been 40 years old. The taste is somewhat surprising. There is not much spicy taste, except for a tanginess. The predominant flavours are very ready with strong tastes  of oak and cedar.

There is a dramatic complexity in the cigar for its age. Perhaps it comes out after the harshness of youth disappears. In the middle of the cigar, the traditional spice from Cohiba comes out. This is truly a brilliant cigar.

3 – Ramon Allones Gigantes:

A brilliant aroma springs from this cigar just after lighting; it has notes of charred oak. The taste starts off with very woodsy ones and an essence of hardwoods mixed with a thread of sweetness. This cigar is really spectacular for its age. In the middle section, it is less woody and more floral. The balance of flavours is amazing. I wonder if the markets could have anticipated that this cigar would be so good after so much time. It has no harshness and smokes beautifully all the way to the end. There is little acidity, but strong floral, sweet, woody and cereal tastes. This Cuban beauty is amazing.

4 – Montecristo A Single SLB:

There is so much taste and aroma in this cigar. The cigar expresses itself with creamy flavours of eggnog and meringue. There are the light spicy flavours that are present in today’s Cuban tobacco. As you get further into the cigar it becomes quite interesting to smoke and gets better and better. The balance is not always nice but is something wonderful. Its character is varied.

5 – Trinidad Fundadores:

Forty plus year old Cuban cigars are an extreme rarity. I am familiar with the spicy Cuban tobaccos of today but I don’t want to assume that the taste was the same in the 1970s. The location of fields could have changed. So could techniques, seeds or many other things. This little petit corona is a firecracker. Despite its age, it has held on to a hot pepper sort of tingle in the taste.  It doesn’t taste like  a fresh cigar with all signs of freshness, but it does have a strong flavour for a cigar of this age. The overall cigar taste is very harmonious.

6 – Punch Double Corona:

Chocolate seems to ride the wave of smoke out of this cigar. For a cigar around forty years old, it’s incredibly flavourful. Not only is it flavourful but also well-balanced and a pleasure to smoke.

It is the kind of cigar that rewards you for ageing it. The chocolatey taste is accompanied by bread tastes, a hint of lemon peel and some nice earthy and woody aromas. All this is in addition to the history behind the cigar, which just makes the smoking pleasure that much better.

7 – H Upmann Sir Winston:

Wow, I am not surprised that this cigar is made in Cuba, tobacco has a substantial taste after nearly 50 years. Cuban cIgars are known to be the best in the world production and this cigar has maintained a flavour that includes sweet chocolate, rich oak and bread grains. The size is brilliant and the band is classic with an underhand reminiscent of tax bands. With its creamy texture, this cigar is unusual among cigars of this age; it is enjoyable to smoke without the caveat that it is an old and wonderful cigar.

8 – Bolivar Belicosos Fino:

Selected Smokers must have had good taste. This cigar remains tasty after more than half a century. It has an amazing balance and creaminess. The tastes are subtle. Some puffs taste like triple cream. There are hints of black pepper and nutmeg. It has a very subtle taste, as you would expect for that particular rare cigar.

9 – Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona:

One of the brands I love from modern times is Hoyo de Monterrey. Smoking this piece of the brand’s history is something to which I am greatly looking forward to. The cigar is typically tapered on both ends. This cigar is box pressed and looks very handsome. It is extremely light in flavour. Its creamy texture carries tastes of cream, peanuts and aromas of wet rain-forest. Especially through the nose, notes of sweetness come through periodically. Shockingly this cigar retains enough flavour to make it a very interesting smoke.

10 – Cuaba Salomones:

This fantastic cigar flavours are mild but present. It has an interesting taste of coconut on top of well preserved taste of corn, oats, wheat toast and aromas of oak. This is a delicious mild cigar that seems not to have lost much of its flavours over the last 40 years.

11 – Fonseca No.1:

This cigar is part of the EMS (English Market Selection), a high level of quality, it was made during the period just after production shifted from Cuba. The flavours are impressively strong for a cigar from the 1960s. They are rich and earthy with a soft sweetness and strong flavours of wood. It has nice flashes of citrus and floral tastes that keep the flavour rounded and clean. For its age, this is a shockingly flavourful and tasty cigar.

12 – Diplomatico No.2:

At first the cigar displayed very typical notes of mild, toasty tobacco. The taste is reminiscent of light, whole grain bread. Its aroma is a bit more robust with scents of wood. As you smoke beyond the halfway point of the cigar, it becomes stronger on the tongue, with some bitterness and woodier tastes. Throughout the smoke, light sweet notes pop in and out. Overall the cigar is very enjoyable for its age. It has held flavour very well.

For more information on cigar tasting notes, please be sure to contact us today.