With the ever-increasing demand of maduros by cigar lovers everywhere, Partagas has come out with 3 different sizes to choose from. The Maduro No. 1 made its debut on the market in 2015, and a few years later in 2018 they introduced the Maduro No. 2 and No. 3. The leaves for all the maduro lines are harvested from the top of the shade grown tobacco plant and after air curing, natural fermentation and ageing, assume their rich, dark, oily appearance which adds a “top-taste” to the blend which many describe as sweet. Once again, the cigar Gods have given me the task (read absolute pleasure) of reviewing the Partagas No. 3.
With its factory name of Maduro No. 3 but marketed as a robusto extra, the No. 3 measures 5-3/4 X 50 and as its name lends, is a dark brown cigar. The trademark red Partagas band jumps off of the leaf in contrast to the color of the cigar, and of course with the accompanying brown and gold band denoting this cigar as a maduro. A quick whiff of the cigar brings that heady rich tobacco aroma with a back note of black earth, barnyard, and a whisp of menthol.
After sitting in my humidor for almost 5 months, it’s time to light up!
The taste on the cold draw is what you would expect from Partagas. Notes of cedar, black pepper and light chocolate and coffee are detected right away, and this stick comes on with immediate power once you light it up. The smoke barrels right to the back of the throat and introduces itself, much like the fire in that first sip of bourbon. And very much like bourbon, your senses adjust to the assault on your taste buds after a few minutes. A couple of puffs in and the classic Partagas flavors come through, with a bit more amplification on the black pepper notes.
About a 1/4 of the way into the cigar a rich, sweet dark chocolate note presents itself and sticks around till about the 1/3 point of the cigar, then back to what you’d expect from a Partagas, but with the flavor volume turned up a notch or two.
The cigar doesn’t really evolve much from the half way point, but it’s still satisfying to smoke. This cigar produced a luxurious, unctuous smoke, more than a cigar with a 50 ring gauge should generate. I thoroughly enjoyed being enveloped by all that smoke. So much smoke that I was creating a bit of a haze around my backyard deck! It never went out on me, and would up being a finger burner.
