It has been a while since I posted a review so I thought it was about time I did another one. After watching cutting out of work early, and watching a very depressing press conference (Brett, you break my heart), I decided to light up something that I have really wanted to try for a long time. So, to my humidor I go to grab an H Upmann Sir Winston from a box dated Nov 08. I've had these sitting in there since receiving them a couple weeks back to get over their travel pains. Well, on to the review.
The initial inspection reveals a very well constructed cigar. There are few visible vains in the wrapper and few oils. It is firm when squeezed but I did find one hard spot near the band. I hoped that it wouldn't cause any problems with the draw. I also spied a nice triple cap which is a signature of most Cuban cigars. The foot smells of tobacco. After cutting, the initial draw is that of sweet tobacco.
I lit it with my torch and took a few puffs to get a nice burn going. My initial full draw revealed plenty of smoke. While the draw was a little tight, it delivered plenty of smoke, so my worries passed. As I progressed into the first third, I'm getting a nice tobacco with a slight spice that tingled the tip of my tongue. The spice moved down my tongue into the back of my throat as I progressed through the first third. The burn also started to get a bit uneven, about a half inch or so. The strength was a medium. There was a slight chocolate aftertaste present, but very slight.
As I got to the second third, I needed to correct the burn. As I corrected the burn, my lighter sputtered out. I hoped that I wouldn't have to do any more touchups because I didn't want to put my cigar down to go get my fuel. I still detected a nice tobacco and the spice let up quite a bit. I started to notice an earthy, grassy, flavor coming in. I've found this to be present in other young cigars that I've smoked. It was still burning slightly uneven, but correcting itself. This made me quite happy. By the end my head was starting to spin a little, I guess I should have eaten first.
Entering the final third, it was still a bit grassy, but that passed. It was replaced by the spicy tobacco. This flavor continued until the end of the cigar. The burn went uneven again, but I was able to correct it by puffing a bit more. I smoked this down to a nub and enjoyed it the whole way, despite the burn issues. It finished at a medium/full strength.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable cigar. I can see why people like them so much. I think it will improve with age, and I am looking forward to the day when these have a couple of years on them.
(thank you photobucket)
The initial inspection reveals a very well constructed cigar. There are few visible vains in the wrapper and few oils. It is firm when squeezed but I did find one hard spot near the band. I hoped that it wouldn't cause any problems with the draw. I also spied a nice triple cap which is a signature of most Cuban cigars. The foot smells of tobacco. After cutting, the initial draw is that of sweet tobacco.
I lit it with my torch and took a few puffs to get a nice burn going. My initial full draw revealed plenty of smoke. While the draw was a little tight, it delivered plenty of smoke, so my worries passed. As I progressed into the first third, I'm getting a nice tobacco with a slight spice that tingled the tip of my tongue. The spice moved down my tongue into the back of my throat as I progressed through the first third. The burn also started to get a bit uneven, about a half inch or so. The strength was a medium. There was a slight chocolate aftertaste present, but very slight.
As I got to the second third, I needed to correct the burn. As I corrected the burn, my lighter sputtered out. I hoped that I wouldn't have to do any more touchups because I didn't want to put my cigar down to go get my fuel. I still detected a nice tobacco and the spice let up quite a bit. I started to notice an earthy, grassy, flavor coming in. I've found this to be present in other young cigars that I've smoked. It was still burning slightly uneven, but correcting itself. This made me quite happy. By the end my head was starting to spin a little, I guess I should have eaten first.
Entering the final third, it was still a bit grassy, but that passed. It was replaced by the spicy tobacco. This flavor continued until the end of the cigar. The burn went uneven again, but I was able to correct it by puffing a bit more. I smoked this down to a nub and enjoyed it the whole way, despite the burn issues. It finished at a medium/full strength.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable cigar. I can see why people like them so much. I think it will improve with age, and I am looking forward to the day when these have a couple of years on them.
(thank you photobucket)
