Partagas Lusitanias Cigar - 1 Single

Ive smoked only two of these. The first was an absolute pleasure... the tastiest Partagas cigar id ever tasted. Draw and construction were fine. The second was unsmokable, a complete write off as it was plugged and came apart as it burnt.

Reviewed by Joe Gellman (27th November 2000) "Lucy, I'm Home," was a phrase many TV watchers heard, every week, in the 50's. With permission of Desilu Productions, I have to say, "Lusi, I'm home." I previously described this cigar as the paradigm of perfection. Little did I know that "perfection" could be improved upon. At 11:30 p.m., on October 25th, 1881, a little known event took place. A baby is born and almost immediately declared dead. An attending physician, Salvador Ruiz, the brother of the father of this tragic occurrence, does not despair of the situation. He approaches the newborn, with cigar in hand, takes a deep draw, and blows the smoke up the nose of the child. Repeating this strange procedure, a few minutes later the baby begins to move...he is not dead. OK, what does this have to do with my review of the Partagas Lusitanias? Easy. The baby grew to be one of the greatest artists of all times, Pablo Picasso, and the Lusitania is one of the greatest pieces of Cuban art, of all times. So it's a stretch of the imagination to equate the two, but this is my tasting review! This vitola is classed a Prominentes, and all cigars are 7 5/8 x 49 (for other countries, 194 x 19.45.) and weigh 17.86 gr. In November, 2000, I was fortunate to be privy to the rolling of this vitola by a Grade 9 torcedor. As I stood by his station, I realized this man was an artist. I was about to leave with a few other ASCers when the roller pressed a cigar into my hand. When we left the factory I immediately lit the cigar. This is where I noticed the improvement on perfection. The street was noisy, people bustling to places unknown. It was 80 degrees and there was a slight breeze from the East. I know this is a fact because I was told so by one of my fellow travelers. I was so engulfed in the cigar that I didn't pay attention to anything else. This is on the level. The cigar was so phenomenal that all else ceased, for me. The first draw, to this perfect lighting cigar, was alive with the sweetest flavor I have experienced ... with a cigar. Sweet aroma mixed with woodsy tones were unmistakable, even in a City where sights and smells abound and strike at every sense. The nuttiness I recognized on my initial tasting review was far richer in this fresh-off-the-roller's-table cigar. I am amazed that this cigar was destined for a cabinet, to be placed on a shelf, to be laid to rest for a few months, and then off to an unknown destination. I have sampled Lusitanias from several retailers, in several countries. They have been young (2 to 6 months) and aged (over one-year), in dress boxes and in cabinets. While there is a subtle difference between the SPB and the Cabinet, there is a world of difference, all to the plus, between a freshly rolled cigar, just out of the rollers hands, and one which is off the shelf. So far, all the samples I have tasted have been superb. The one I had in Havana ranks tops, for all time, but that is something you have to experience for yourself, if you are as lucky as I was. Otherwise, you are destined to buy the best from C.GARS Ltd and only hope to travel to the factory and pick up one of the greatest smokes of the greatest vitola, in production.

Reviewed by Joe Gellman I have hesitated doing a tasting on the Partagas Lusitanias, for some time, now. I thought it was best to review cigars in everyone's price range. What a gaffe on my part. It is 9.30pm, Los Angeles time, October 8th 1999. I feel obligated to harass my friends at C.GARS Ltd and let them know that it is 70 degrees, here on my deck. The sky is clear and, even with the glare of city lights, I can see the stars. Katydids chirp and crickets are a-rubbin away. The sweet aroma of mixed Jasmine wafts by on a soft breeze, over the sides of my deck and here I sit, trying to make accurate tasting notes on a Lucy. I lit up 15 minutes ago and have been totally enthralled in the delight of the smoke. I finally look up and notice a deep, dark gray ash, perfectly waiting for me to marvel at, on the end of this piece of art (in order to fully appreciate the ongoing permutations of a smoke I am reviewing, I have to wear my reading glasses, being unable to distinguish a cigar from a piece of wood at close distances). To compound my gracious cigar merchants misery, I must advise that I am nursing the last of my 1924 Coutet a' Barsac (brought over from Paris in 1978, a gift from Pierre Jammet, the then owner of the Bristol Hotel - his father built it in the 20's and it was a splendid place to visit for a month). Jay Hoggard's vibraphone is pushing out the sounds of Samba Pa Negra, with Grusin plying his talents on the acoustic piano with Dave Valentin blowing ever so gently on his magic flute. As Sammy Figueroa hits a high note at the end of his Cuica solo, I am bought back to reality and the deed of the day. This cigar is a paradigm of perfection. It is exactly 19.4cm long and 2cm in diameter. Every cigar in my sampling is to this exacting proportion. The color is pretty close to Oscuro as a Cuban gets. It is silky smooth and lustrous with hints of meluza. Parejo is an apt description of this cigar. Very small 'goose bumps' on the leaf leads me to believe this is going to be a very sweet smoke. I am not let down. The first draw portents a great smoke. The air is filled with sweet aromas. My prelighting taste is sweet and woody, a little nuttiness, also. The cut is without problems and the burn is smooth, from start to finish. My first impression must be defined as 'awesome', even though that is a rather trite description; sweet, ambered, honey and a hint of a mystery nut. A subtle taste of ripe berries and the smell of the dew on early morning fall leaves comes to mind. I am drawn back to Paris of the 70's, under the vast trees, a strong mist rising from the forest floor in the Bois de Vincennes after a soft rain. It is early October, there, and I now know the only thing which would have made that memory grander would have been to have this cigar, then. I feel my music is not doing justice to the cigar and quickly replace Hoggard with Faure's Pavane, played by Steve Erquiaga, followed by Faure's Sicilienne..... now I was getting all five senses working; taste, smell, touch, hearing, sight, and the addition of a 'mind trip' worthy of this monument to Cuban cigars (no smug remarks about Peyote, please). I suspect I could describe the varouis smoking levels of this cigar but, to be perfectly honest, the aromas and taste simply grew to a crescendo on the last possible draw. Nothing marred this smoke. I was reminded of what Kate Carrington wrote: 'And that subtle fragrance steals, just as a loving, tender hand will sometimes steal in yours, it softly comes through open doors and memory wakes at its command - the scent of that good cigar.' Or perhaps Lord Byron's description (which could have been of this specific cigar): '.... amber, mellow, rich and ripe...' So many flavors rolled into this cigar make it both difficult and easy to describe. Light. Amber. Honeyed. Subtle woodiness. Fragrant. Floral tones through the nose and off the lips. Sweet. Not a bitter or harsh note to the entire smoke. So very easy to smoke. Such perfect ease of draw. Mouthfuls of pristine tobacco. Dark ash, holding on as the umbilical of a newborn, beckoning for me to partake of subtle wonders yet to come. This cigar defies everything one had read about tasting. I can only suggest you buy a few and join me in reverie. The Jasmine glides by, the breeze is afraid to disturb the smoke as it rises from the cigar. I am driven on to the last. Damn you Cigar Merchants! Why are these so costly!? Oh, I guess this review explains it.

Reviewed by Andy Marinkovich (October 2000) What a pleasant surprise to return from my Christmas vacation to find a package from C.GAR Ltd with three Partagas Lusitanias inside of it. I was surprised the reviews weren't being done blind (no labels on the cigars, like we always did at SMOKE) but I wasn't complaining! Even though I was recovering from a bout with the flu, I decided to start with my reviews. First, I'll say that each of these cigars were stunning in appearance and construction. They were perfectly shaped, box-pressed, and were covered with a dark, oily wrapper that exhibited very few flaws. These are the types of cigar that I get pleasure from just looking at and feeling them (no, I'm not perverse!). The first Lusitania I smoked, however, turned out to be a problematic smoke. It was plugged! One of the things I hate the most about being a cigar smoker is having to put up with cigars that don't smoke properly. This particular cigar was rolled so tight that I could hardly get a draw. I lit it up anyway, and managed to get it going, but it was hard work. After some plunging with my draw poker, it opened up a bit, but would quickly close back up. I huffed and puffed on this thing, but the tobacco in these cigars is too strong to enjoy smoking it this way. I tried to get something out of it, but my mouth became raw and irritated from the continued puffing, and I had to give up on it just past the halfway mark. The flavor of this first cigar was difficult to measure given the draw problems. It mostly came off as hot and acrid -- definitely not what a Lusitania should be. The cigar burned relatively straight, but the ash flaked and created a bit of a mess. Overall, a disappointing experience. (As an aside, I will point out that I recently stopped buying Churchills and Double Coronas for two reasons. One, is that I just don't have the time to really enjoy big cigars these days, and plus I've found that I can get as much enjoyment out of a smaller sized stogie (such as the Bolivar Corona Extra, Punch Punch, or Rafael Gonzales Lonsdale) and pay less money for it. The second reason is that I've found too many draw problems with larger sized Cuban cigars. I purchased a box of Partagas Lusitanias about a year ago and more than half the box were almost unsmokable. (No, they weren't fakes!) I've had similar experiences with Hoyo Double Coronas and Punch Double Coronas, so I decided not to spend the extra money for the big smokes any longer, and stick instead with the medium sizes, where I've found draw problems far less prevalent.) I tried the second Lusitania a few days later and had better luck with the draw, but it was still tighter than I would like. This cigar was strong, strong, strong from the first puff. I was able to taste some tarry, earthy flavors that also came across a bit hot, which I attribute to the tight draw and the extra huffing that was required to get a mouthful of smoke. This cigar burned evenly and had a semi-solid ash that was much better behaved than the one on the first sample. While I was able to smoke this one down to an inch-and-a-half, it still required more effort than I would have liked. The flavors improved in the second half as the cigar heated up, and delivered some powerfully spicy and earthy notes to my senses. I even had to put this thing down a time or two to ease my spinning head. While better than the first sample, this cigar only hinted at the greatness this cigar is capable of. I smoked the last cigar three days after that one, and was so happy to find that it drew just perfectly. "Now this is going to be an experience," I thought to myself, and I was right! Like sample #2, this cigar started strong and immediately began to pummel my palate with it's intensely layered flavors of wood, spice, and earth. It had a definite nose-burning bite to it which I attributed to youth, and it definitely hadn't quite reached the kind of flavor balance I have experienced with other Lusitanias. However, don't get me wrong, this smoke rocked my world. As I continued to puff, the complex flavors flourished, creating a cigar nirvana that is not often attainable. While this cigar was powerful, it finessed my palate with a myriad of great flavors, and the complexity kept my palate singing for the entire smoke, which I puffed down to the last tiny nub. While this cigar could have used a bit of additional aging, it showed its greatness in heaps and was a joy to smoke. One final comment on the Partagas Lusitania: I've had a good number of these fine cigars over the years, and the one thing I always realize after smoking them is that they are extremely powerful. I usually like a good, strong cigar, but these always manage to sit me on my ass for awhile. This is not a cigar to give to a beginner to try, unless they eat nails for breakfast. This is a brash cigar that likes to overpower you. If you let it work its magic and go along for the ride, you are in for an incredible treat. Still, it's a cigar that will be best enjoyed by experienced smokers who like cigars with attitude, power, and tons of great flavor. I just wish that every Lusitania drew as well as the last sample I smoked. Thank you C.GARS Ltd for this fantastic opportunity, and I hope you find my comments of interest.

Reviewed by Nathaniel Fandino ( October 2000) A Flavorful Flagship As an avid cigar aficionado, special occasions have become even more meaningful with the inclusion of a cigar with close friends and relatives. In this particular case, we were celebrating the birth and baptism of my son, Sebastian Augusto (Sebi for short). What better occasion to smoke the Partagas Lusitanias I had received from C.GARS Ltd was the thought that went through my mind. After dinner of garden salad, Angus Roast Beef, paella and ratatouille, my friends and I were seated around the lanai enjoying the warm, tropical, night air. In the corner of the lanai, my favorite, teakwood, lounge chair beckoned. After distributing Cohiba Esplendidos and Romeo Y Julietas Churchill Tubos to the rest, I settled down with my Lusitanias. Excellent specimens that they were, the garden lights showed off the oily sheen of their smooth, dark colorado wrappers, just a few shades from maduro and veined ever so slightly. Accented by an elegant red and gold cigar band, it felt like a sin to cut it. Satiny and supple to the touch, I made a cut using my double-guillotine cutter and tested the draw. Just the way I prefer it, not too loose with just the correct amount of restraint. Its leathery, earthy aroma, though unlit, whispered promises of more than an hour's reverie. I slowly and carefully toasted the edges and watched the thick swirls of smoke slowly curl upwards through the humid air. More leather and a hint of sweet cocoa foreshadowed its flavor. As I smoked the first third of the grand Lusitania, its smoke generously released subtle, bittersweet chocolate, leather and spice into the air, then onto my tongue. Medium bodied at the start with the merest hint of sweetness at the finish, its flavor lingered on the palate. A perfect draw and an even burn ensured consistency that would last until the end. The burn stayed very even throughout the second third of the cigar, it's firm ash a musty, brownish gray consistent with the island on which the Lusitania was crafted. So even was the burn, that when the ash fell, the end was almost as straight as when I had first lit the foot. The ash itself, studded with fine tooth, was a testament to the wonderful oiliness of the cigars. Going into the last third, each and every perfect draw, yielded a luxurious mouthful of thick, rich, creamy smoke. Then the flavors exploded. As I closed my eyes, well rounded, extremely full, savory flavors filled my senses. Thereafter, it was all leather, earth and cedar, the combination providing an elegant, most seductive contrast. Gone was the hint of sweet chocolate that predominated the unlit bouquet and in its place was a leathery finish that seemed to last a lifetime. Unlike some of its other cousins in the Partagas line, the Lusitania retained its balance throughout, coming close to, but never becoming overpowering even as its flavors built up to a full crescendo during the last third.