Partagas Maduro No. 1 {Aug. '16} (5 1/8 x 52)

Video review HERE.

A new Cuban Partagás cigar with a dark maduro wrapper has landed in several retail shops around the world. The 5 1/8 inch by 52 ring gauge parejo is known as the Partagás Maduro No. 1, and it's exclusive to Casas del Habanos and Habanos specialist retailers.

The Maduro No. 1 comes packed in wooden boxes of 25, and in addition to the regular Partagás band, the cigar carries a new brown secondary band embossed with the word "Maduro." The cigars inside the box are wrapped with a large, brown protective paper sleeve called a bofetón, while the outside ends of the box also has a distinctive brown costero.

The Partagás Maduro No. 1 is the first cigar in the brand lineup to use a maduro wrapper.

The cigar is a dark brown and has an average feel in the hand for a cigar of this size. Here is a shot of the foot.

The test draw after cutting the cap was decent but I used my PerfecDraw tool to improve it. The initial flavors were a cedar with a touch of citrus with massive amounts of chocolate and black coffee notes. There was a nice amount of black pepper which I rated at an 8. 

About 1 1/2 inches in (25 minutes) the flavors are pretty much unchanged. There is a ton of chocolate and coffee notes. I would call the chocolate a milk chocolate and it has a nice sweetness. The cedar and light citrus just add a little something to the mix; they are rather light in intensity. The cigar is upper end medium bodied by "our standards". In the Cuban world this is a full bodied cigar. The finish is one of chocolate with some nice lingering black pepper. 

The cigar lasted 1 hour 5 minutes. It really didn't change much. I lost all the light citrus notes but the cedar was still going strong and mixed well with the milk chocolate and black coffee. There was decent sweetness in this cigar. It ended medium to full bodied. I liked the black pepper in this cigar. It may have dropped a slight amount as the cigar went along but it was good throughout, even on the finish. At the end the finish was one of chocolate and cedar. This was a good cigar but not my favorite Partagas, which is my go-to Cuban brand. Now, as far as price; these cost $30 each so they would be in the celebratory cigar category. But, if you're traveling in the Caribbean or overseas go to a La Casa del Habano or Habano Specialist and give them a try.

Score: 92