I stumbled onto this cigar the other day and I just had to try it. I love the marca and this was a vintage, discontinued and unusual size of cigar for me so I decided to give it chance. Here are a few technical details on it before we get on with this review. It is a Small Panatela (26 x 115) size cigar that comes in a small semi boite nature of 50 Cigarritos and it was a pre-1960 release that was discontinued in 2010. This example came from a box with the code RSE ABR01.
Pre-game inspection:
This cigar is light because of its size but for the amount of tobacco used to roll it it has a very pungent aroma. The construction is good and there aren’t any soft or hard spots on it. The aromas at cold are cream and almost coffee. This smells pretty amazing to me. After a quick cut, it gives me a perfect draw.
1st half
Right off the start I get some Rafael Gonzalez flavours. I get some cream, some wood, some sweetness like creamed honey and some toasted bread. It sits at light to light medium body and it produces a decent amount of delicate smoke. I also get some sourdough flavours. The burn is perfect and razor sharp. The wood notes are much more present when I retro-hale. The intensity and the sharp flavours come to me as a surprise, a good surprise.
2nd Half
The second half is right in the footsteps of the first in terms of flavours and quality of the burn. I get a much more pronounced sourdough flavour sitting on top of everything and with the sweetness in the back it tastes like a sourdough doughnut. The smoke itself smells really sweet. My cigar lounge smells amazingly sweet. Eve brings me a Pina Colada to wash this down and I am thrown off by it. It is producing flavours of cinnamon, some clove and both of them paired taste almost like eggnog!
I must say this cigar has impressed me and even with its smaller size, it still tells an interesting story. It might be its 12 years of maturation, the 50 SBN boxes it aged in or just that it’s just a great little cigar. I believe this can continue to age for another 5’10 year before it starts to slow down and lose some flavours. All in all, I recommend giving it a try and see for yourself. I know I will pick up a box if I find one.
7.5/10
This cigar was purchased here:
http://lacasadelhabanomontreal.com
