Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Partagas Benji Menendez Master Series Majestuoso Review

Wrapper: Cameroon
Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
Price: $9.00

A few months ago, I got in touch with another cigar enthusiast from Texas. Through our conversations he learned that small batch cigars, and many boutique cigars for that matter, were hard to find in my area. So we decided to set up a small trade. This was one of the cigars he sent me. Prior to our discussions, I had never head of this particular Partagas. I was excited to finally get the chance to sit down and enjoy this cigar.

The Cameroon wrapper is a medium to dark shade of brown and is very smooth. This cigar appears to have no veins throughout it. The one that is there is so thin, I know I won’t have an issue with it. There was a little crack on the foot, but that was most likely due to me carrying it to the cigar lounge from my house. The cigar has a very sweet smell to it, with a slight accent of cinnamon. The cigar is very solid all the way through which lead to a very clean cut.


As soon as I lit this cigar up, the spice was almost overpowering. Not many cigars that I have smoked were this spicy this fast. But the spice quickly mellowed out and the flavors became very earthy. Once the earthiness becomes full force, there were some nice wood notes that came out. The wood notes weren’t too distinct. They weren’t oak, and they weren’t cedar.

By an inch of the way into this cigar, the spice picked right back up and was ridiculously strong. The woodiness was still very strong, and still very hard to pinpoint. It was a good thing that the wood was so strong, because I needed it to counteract the spice a little bit.

By the second third, the spice mellowed out yet again. With the spice mellowed, the earthiness and woodiness had a chance to shine, and that’s exactly what they did. It seemed as though once this flavor got a little boring, there was a little bit of a toast flavor that came out. Even though the spice had mellowed out, the woodiness of this cigar never lessened.

The last couple inches were not what I was expecting. Just when I thought that the spiciness of this cigar was at a good level, it picked right back up and actually exceeded its previous high point. Now the spice was completely overwhelming, but luckily the wood and earth notes stayed strong as well.

The finish was very strong and very full bodied. The notes of spice, wood, earth, and toast all came together well. But overall the flavors were a little too consistent and they got a little boring. There wasn’t as much complexity as I would have liked with this cigar.

The ash was a medium shade of gray and held on for about an inch and a half at a time. The burn was perfectly even all the way through. The one thing that bothered me was the draw. The draw was very tight and that made the smoke very thin. The aroma I was getting through the light smoke was very woody.

I wouldn’t say this is a bad cigar by any means. If you like full bodied cigars, try this one. This one does pack a nice punch, but I just wanted a little more complexity. Hopefully I just got a plugged stick, but I would have to find another one to do that. From my experience with this one, I have to give it a 6.75 out of 10.

Thanks for reading,

Zack the Stogie Man

2 comments:

  1. A cigar can be complex but if it misses on the flavors I truly enjoy tasting, that can affect the review as well. It could have been a plugged stick or maybe you don't the flavor profile. Either, we appreciate you being honest with the review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. i really would like to try it again and see if it changes

      Delete