Puros Y Vino Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Partagas Series C No 3 EL 2012 Serie C No.3 Hermosos No.3 48 x 140 (5.5") Grand Corona A good BOTL handed me a sample stick of this soon to be release 2012 EL. Construction: Firm, no soft spots. Very solid. Silky wrapper, light veins. Cosmetically beautiful Aroma at cold: Hints of cedar, cookies, tobacco, cocoa and earth Draw at cold is smooth. FIRST THIRD A nice soft butane flame results in a great light.. initial draws offer up a delightful coffee crème. Some bready qualities follow. Loads of smoke. Hints of mint on the finish. Kind of floral as well. Sweet aftertaste. Very refined for a Partagas. Nice sharp hints of cedar. More coffee crème. Nice hints of tangy tobacco. The smoke billows into my face...very calm , windless summer night here in Toronto. Perfect for a cigar! Wow. The aroma of mint on the smoke. Never had that before. Very complex smoke so far. Sweet, tangy, woodsy, minty...very cool some party power coming in. sharp tangy tobacco..some black pepper in the back fo the throat. Some more mint...but with toasty tobacco. This cigar is showing me a lot. Far better than last years LE right off the bat. Back to some creamy coffee..but underlying pepper is still there. Power calms down several draws later. Some bitter notes emerge. Can't chalk it up to youth..the tobacco is already two years old when rolled! SECOND THIRD Tobacco power re-emerges. Black pepper burn is constant. Sharp cedar notes. Slight minty finish. Additional floral notes. Slight saltiness. Mineraly flavours kick in. starting to mellow out in terms of range. Still very good, lots of pepper creamy coffee returns. I welcome it back still lots of pepper in the throat. More floral notes. Some earthiness, cedary finish. This cigar is drying me out. Very strong notes. Still serious amounts of smoke..not a big cigar but still...wow....more minty tones on the finish. A few beany notes. Good evolution on this stick. More earthy tones. The second third is a bit more relaxed in general. Little did I know at the time, that things were going to change drastically. THIRD THIRD Woodsy notes open up this third; not cedar though. Nice white ash. Pretty solid. Cigar goes out..time for a relight.. floral notes greet me upon flame on.. This cigar reminds me a bit of the E2 but it's a far better performing cigar. Serious clouds of smoke continue. Cedar notes return. Going to get a good tobacco buzz. Still peppery in the background..this is one spicy cigar. It's got that Partagas DNA for sure. Bit of pine on the finish. This third is still spicy not as complex..but the amounts of smoke is insane. Back to some creaminess. The strength really kicked in now..my stomach is full...but man am I feeling it...no 2nd cigar tonight. Some more cedar notes...powerful. I'm not ashamed to admit that at this point, I'm turning green. This is the strongest cigar I've ever had ever I'd say. Not in terms of start to finish power. It's this last third that really kicked into high gear. FINAL NOTES: This was quite a complex cigar. It opened up very smooth and creamy. Slowly, the tobacco strength and richness that Partagas is known for evolved brilliantly. This was no boring cigar. It kept me on my toes. By the first third I was thinking this is a great cigar ROTT. As I hit the the final third my thoughts changed. This puppy needs some sleep and is a possible candidate for long term aging. Of course, this is the one and only I've had of these thus far. I am definitely liking this better than last years Partagas EL. Having smoked a Montecristo 520 early. This cigar might give that monster a run for it's money. Hopefully, the stock will hit shelves soon and more people can try it and chime in. I definitely recommend a single or two before committing to a box. SCORE: 91 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strada Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Thanks for the sneak peek Frank, I am looking forward to these! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svivo Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Nice review, thanks for sharing. My experience was a bit different, definitely on the milder side for the first two thirds. It did intensify towards the end but there was no real big kick. I'm not really a big smoker and initially that's what I was worried about when I lit this up and ended up being very surprised at its lack of strength. It came across quite clean and refined as well, I definitely enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to smoking a few more when they start to show up around the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puros Y Vino Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 Nice review, thanks for sharing. My experience was a bit different, definitely on the milder side for the first two thirds. It did intensify towards the end but there was no real big kick. I'm not really a big smoker and initially that's what I was worried about when I lit this up and ended up being very surprised at its lack of strength. It came across quite clean and refined as well, I definitely enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to smoking a few more when they start to show up around the place. I saw your comments on how "mild' it was. Very odd that we'd be getting the opposite end of the spectrum. You smoked yours recently too did you not? Mind you, mine was very smooth up to the last third. It's that last third that kicked into high gear for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcedCanuck Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Thanks for putting up the review. Can't wait to start seeing these on the shelves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maverickdrinker Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 They're ok cigars....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puros Y Vino Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 Nice review Frank. 91. Thats a pretty high score for a cigar that turned you green...lol. If these are anything like the PSD Especial 2010, it'll be a very easy pass on these for me. If they are like bigger PSD5 2008 EL, I'll try a few for sure. At a 10ct box, it may actually be kinda affordable... If they are like the PSD3s from 2006, they will be terrible at first, but be glorious after 5-6 years....the guessing game really sucks. Ok, maybe I'll just stick with teh Shorts and all will be well with the world. Yes, it turned me green at the end..but the journey getting there was excellent. I already like this Party EL over last one's by a mile. Go splits with someone or try a single when the LCDH gets them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deemancpa Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I can't wait for this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svivo Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I saw your comments on how "mild' it was. Very odd that we'd be getting the opposite end of the spectrum. You smoked yours recently too did you not? Mind you, mine was very smooth up to the last third. It's that last third that kicked into high gear for me. Yeah I smoked mine on Saturday just gone, like I said I'm not a big smoker and it was third of the night. It was definitely what I would call smooth and almost refined for the first two thirds so I think we are pretty close there the only difference being the last third. As you can imagine there are lots of different factors that could have influenced our experiences. It's pretty hard to judge after just one smoke which means we'll both just have to go and smoke more of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerieT Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 awesome review! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikesupremedunk Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Great review, can't wait til they hit the stores! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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