And so it was with this 'gift set' of Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas No.2, a product of General Cigar I think. Three of them are packed in a steel tin of the kind that Opus X are packed in from time to time. Make no mistake, this is a fantastic-looking cigar. Perfectly-rolled, these sport a viciously sweet looking Cameroon wrapper that I imagine was from a 1998 crop. The cello is really yellow to boot. The blend is not so special, in fact it tastes of nothing so special as any other of their hundreds of cigars I find all taste similar. But it is still a fine cigar. The lighting and burning were agonizingly slow. By this I mean that I smoked it in a situation that many of us are familiar with, a hard days work, followed by a cool beverage and a cigar. But I was bone tired and it was clear this cigar was not going to be a 1998 tinderbox special that would burn like a wind-driven blaze on a hot Texas day. But the more I relaxed, the more the cigar began to affect me positively. I was still a yawning machine and the beer had two too many ounces in it and the cigar had two too many inches on it.
There were deep and intense flavors of espresso and dark dried fruit. There was a sweet nature in the wrapper that at times had a molasses-like quality that I liked. The burn was razor-straight and slow, with a perfect white-grey ash. It was a really good cigar that was just too much for the situation. A better cigar would have been a nice Monte No.5 or Bolivar Coronas Junior. I was thinking it was an awful shame to waste a good cigar by trying to will it across the finish line like this. But I got to the halfway point with good flavors and excellent performance. And then right out of the blue, I was released from my 'burden'. The cigar got mushy and gassy and hot after the halfway point. It began to taste bad, and left a taste of ashtray in the mouth. So I brought it upstairs, photographed it, and made a quick exit to bathroom and bed. This was a good cigar. In NC terms, a great cigar. In the end, it JUST could not carry through with it's strong points and prove to be a nubber of the highest order. But it was good.
When you stride up to the cash register, however, and place this outrageously expensive box of cigars on the counter, it would be nice if they performed like a top of the line cigar. And these just don't. I DO remember a Partagas Limited Reserve cigar that I really liked, though, and I smoked it way back when this cigar was JUST out on the market. It was a panatela size if I recall correctly, and absolutely delicious. You would be better-served to find THAT cigar and leave this one be. Is my assessment fair after smoking only one cigar? Of course not. But with a handmade product, you will get some duds now and again, and I seem to have found one this time.
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