JC Newman

June 14, 2010

Weekend review; June 12 and 13, 2010

I thought it was hot last weekend but that was nothing compared to this weekend. Over 100 degrees both days! Crazy hot!

After the yard work and a well deserved nap I decided to have the new cigar from the son of Don Pepin Garcia. Jaime Garcia has blended his own cigar and I wanted to try it. Along with this cigar I smoked a tribute cigar to my step father, John Lowman, who passed away early Sunday morning. John was extremely good to my mom and he was nothing short of a true gentleman. Rest in peace John.

The cigars reviewed were:

  • Jaime Garcia Reserva Especiale
  • Partagas Serie D no. 1 Edicion Limitada 2004



Saturday, June 12th, 2010

Jaime Garcia Reserva Especiale toro (6x54)



This was a very dark cigar. It started with peppery spice and sweet orange citrus notes. Black coffee noted. There were tons of black pepper. The finish was fairly long with sweet almond notes. The draw was very good. Sweet molasses was noted. The burn was very even. The orange citrus notes dropped off at midpoint but the quickly returned shortly thereafter. The finish remained the same. The pepper tends to linger which is always a good thing. Toward the end of the cigar it had more black coffee notes. Good cigar. Here is a close up of the band:


The orange citrus notes dropped off at midpoint but the quickly returned shortly thereafter. The finish remained the same. The pepper tends to linger which is always a good thing. Toward the end of the cigar it had more black coffee notes. Good cigar.


Score: 91



Now, before the tribute cigar I want to follow-up with a story I discussed a couple weeks ago. Yogi Berra said "it ain't over 'til it's over", and boy he wasn't kidding! Connie and I painted the bedroom, then she bought a new sofa and chair. Now for the completion of her vision. She bought new curtains, bedspread, nick-knacks, etc. to complete the look. Here is the culmination of her project:


It looks great and I'm glad it's over! (or, I think it is). She did a good job. The room has a bed and breakfast feel to it!



Sunday, June 13, 2010

Now, the last cigar reviewed this weekend is a special cigar smoked in honor of a special man. John Lowman will be greatly missed. He took very good care of my mom. I thought it fitting that I would smoke one of my treasured cigars in John's honor.

Partagas Serie D no. 1 Edicion Limitada 2004 (6 3/4 x 50) [Cuban]


This is a much darker Partagas than I'm use to. I love the PSD4 so I'm looking forward to smoking this Partagas version. It started with semi-sweet almond spice with a touch of pepper. The draw was extremely firm, as some Cuban cigars are. The finish had slightly sweet raw almond notes. Light molasses noted at midpoint.  Here is a close-up of the bands:



Once the cigar got to the midpoint I was able to clear the draw by using an straightened paperclip and running it through the cigar. This is a trick I use for tight cigars. The draw improved and so did the flavor! The cigar was being held back by the lack of draw. The pepper immediately increased. Light vanilla was noted in the spice. The almond spice and pepper are more intense with the improved draw. The cigar became much more enjoyable. The finish, however, remained basically the same; lightly sweet raw almonds, but the pepper tended to linger longer. There were dark notes, somewhat that of coffee, mixed into the spice after the improved draw. The ash was very tight. I had to break it off several times as I was afraid it would fall off due to it's length. This is a tale of 2 cigars actually. The first half of the cigar I would rate a dismal 87 but the second half was fantastic and I would rate at 92. The final rating will be an average of the two. All in all, the cigar wound up being very good. I have more of these and will be interested to see if the others have a better draw.

 
Score: 90

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