phreedh

It's been a while, but I'm going to pick this up again. Thanks for the encouragement above!

Bolivar Tubos No. 3 (34 x 125, Aluminium Tube, Small Panetela) Avg price: $6.47 Price ratio: 28 Did I like it: In part Will I buy it: No At first: Rich tobacco, coffee and almondy. Later on: Leather, rich sweetness and vanilla. In conclusion: Very rich and dense flavours. A bit too much for me, I prefer lighter bodied cigars. No bite, nothing rough about it - just very flavourful. I quite enjoyed the vitola. If you would ask for a small cigar with some oomph to it, I'd recommend this.

Hi all! After a bit of a seasonal hiatus coupled with a few tenacious chest colds I'm now "back" of sorts. First update this year is the above Punch Petit Coronations that I actually smoked in October last year. Oh well. Tomorrow I'll add a Bolivar No. 3 I had the other day and then we'll see where we'll take it from there.

Punch Petit Coronations (40 x 117, Aluminium Tube, Petit Corona) Avg price: $6.07 Price ratio: 38 Did I like it: Yes indeed Will I buy it: No, probably not At first: Ooh, flavourful! Citrus, berries, leather. Strong! Later on: Deep leather, very rich flavours. In conclusion: Liked this quite a lot. Draw was tight, but not too tight. It's a nice little tubo with good bang for the buck, with what I'd expect to be pretty good potential for aging a few years. I'm sensitive for harshness and there was none here, no rough edges at all. All these positives aside, it's probably not something I'd pick when choosing from several alternatives.

H. Upmann Coronas Junior (36 x 115, Aluminium Tube, Short Panetela) Avg price: $5.48 Price ratio: 34 Did I like it: Very much Will I buy it: Could happen At first: Toasty wood, cedar. Mild but rich. Later on: Creamy, pastry and still cedar. In conclusion: A very nice little smoke enjoyed a sunny but windy day on the beach in Cretes. Practical with it's tube and the small dimensions. It was a little bit dry, but that's probably more due to the windy conditions than the cigar itself. Definitely a contender for a box purchase of small tubos. Refined and classy smoke!

Don't feel sorry for my taste buds. Since I started this thread I've had Cohiba BHK 54s, a HdM DC and several other premium cigars outside of the scope of this thread. Add to that, I actually like the JLP flavours. Not the Quinteros so much... I've had the Palmas Extra and I'm a sucker for HdM in general. Didn't manage to take any notes though so will have to revisit at a later date. =) Regarding the HU Majestics, I haven't tried it. I do like Upmann (such as the HC or Noellas) and I enjoyed the Epicures I tried. I disagreed with nothing but the format. =) The upside of me trucking through the JLP and Quinteros is that I don't have many shortfiller left to try. Here's what I've got in the stash for this thread, so far: Bolivar No 3 H. Upmann Coronas Junior H. Upmann Coronas Major Jose L. Piedra Cazadores La Flor de Cano Petit Coronas La Flor de Cano Selectos Partagás Super Partagás Por Larrañaga Montecarlo Punch Coronations Punch Petit Coronations Romeo Y Julieta Romeo No.2 San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe

José L. Piedra Cremas (40 x 136, Short Filler, Corona) Avg price: $2.43 Price ratio: 111 Did I like it: Somewhat Will I buy it: No At first: Good. Almonds and french nougat. Tight draw. Later on: Citrus zest and burnt wood. In conclusion: An enjoyable but rather anonymous and non-descript smoke. Nice flavours, but very subtle and subdued. Everything was wrapped in a basic tobacco flavour. I liked it, but not enough to buy again or recommend it. To quote Douglas Adams and the HHG; "Mostly harmless".

Gotta love Fox!

Rafael Gonzáles Panetelas Extra (36 x 127, Short Filler, Short Panetela) Avg price: $3.08 Price ratio: 66 Did I like it: Yes Will I buy it: Maybe At first: Wow, orange zest and some vegetal notes. Later on: Underfilled, still tasty but heavier and "muffled" flavours. In conclusion: This was a fun cigar. Right from the get-go it displayed an array of flavours the Quinteros haven't come close to matching. Very nice blend. The specimen I had was a bit under filled in the last third so got spongy, hot and raw in the flavours. I had to purge it constantly. The main body of the cigar was a full, dark citrus flavour mixed with some spicy herbal or vegetal notes on the retro. I rather liked it, but it felt a bit cheap in construction (go figure) so the final verdict is mixed. Great flavours though, quite enjoyable!

Quintero Panetelas (36 x 127, Short Panetela) Avg price: $2.81 Price ratio: 72 Did I like it: No Will I buy it: No At first: Mostly sweet tobacco, some dried fruits and marzipan. Later on: Bland and boring. Umami body on the retro. In conclusion: A rather boring and pointless affair. Had this in the morning, with a nice cup of coffee on a day off. Can't say I enjoyed it. There was nought wrong with it, but the flavours were dull and boring. The draw was a little on the tight side. Won't bother with these again. With this small size of cigar, it's worth putting in a little extra coin to get something better.

Cheers Scrubber, I'm happy you find it useful. Welcome to the siblinghood of the leaf! =)

Romeo y Julieta Mille Fleurs (42 x 129, Petit Corona) Avg price: $5.29 Price ratio: 53 Did I like it: Yes Will I buy it: A few, but not a box At first: Perfumey leathery handbag goodness, peppery. Later on: Floral notes, tons of pepper, fine tobacco. In conclusion: Savoured this on the pier after a swim, with the sun going down. It might impact my verdict, but it was a very nice cigar. The difference between proper long-filler cheapies and the short-fillers makes me question if it's even worth bothering with the JLP, Quinteros and such. Regardless, this was one peppery smoke. Mixed with strong floral notes and a little leather I got a definitive sensation of "handbag". You know, the refined aroma mix of cigarette tobacco, make up, perfume, chewing gum and leather. The peppery side might be explained with me having a ginger, orange and carrot smoothie some 30 minutes before smoking this. I'd love to get a few more to see if the pepper persists. I'm not sure the profile perfectly fit my preference so I don't see this as a box purchase for me, but would definitely recommend someone to try it. It's definitely a contender for the "refined cheapie" category.

It's a bit of an oxymoron, isn't it? As pointed out by Ginseng's graphics, the traits that are distinctly cubanesque would by definition be those that set cubans apart from other cigars. Thus a non cuban can not display a cubanesque trait, in doing so it renders that trait non-cubanesque and instead generic.

Most B&Ms in Sweden have a fair share of NC sticks. Padron, CAO, Rocky Patel, LFD, JdN, Davidoff etc are all popular here.

Pure class, pres! Pm to pat have been sent. Cheers!