|
Home > What's New > Connoisseur's Corner, October 2003
 Email this feature to a friend
Connoisseur's Corner, October 2003
Posted: Monday, December 01, 2003
Reprinted from the October 2003 issue of Cigar Aficionado
How do cigars age? If they're anything like this 39-year-old Don Candido
from Cuba, very well indeed. Despite nearly four decades in a humidor, this
cigar had power to spare and an unpredictably fresh flavor. It scored 97
points, the best of these half-dozen cigars, making it a classic. Other
Cubans, such as a Partagas and a Montecristo, each nine years old, and two
Havanas from the 1980s, including a very rare maduro Davidoff, also performed well, scoring in the 90s.
We rate few non-Cubans in this section, but a decade-old Arturo Fuente from the Dominican Republic showed that connoisseurs should be patient and lay down their finest smokes. It scored 95 points, and was so good it threatened our taster's fingers.
|
Don Candido 506 (1964)
97 This is a legendary smoke and it lives up to its reputation. It's super
powerful with loads of spice and chocolate character. Full bodied, fresh and
rich. A great cigar.
--James Suckling
|
|
Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No. 3 (1993)
95 A 10-year-old Don Carlos No. 3 significantly outperformed its original
tasting. This is just an amazingly smooth, rich tasting cigar, filled with earthy and leathery flavors plus a lighter backbone of spiciness. This cigar frequently earns a knuckle-burner label -- you want to smoke it down to the final ashes.
--Gordon Mott
|
|
Partagas Churchill Deluxe Tubo (1994)
95 I didn't think that this cigar would be up to much. Then bam! Wow.
Blockbuster. Super, big and spicy with loads of character. Roasted coffee
and tobacco notes. It goes on for minutes on your palate after each puff.
--James Suckling
|
|
Montecristo No. 2 (1994)
93 This was produced at the José Martí factory in Havana and it draws like a dream. It feels like thick velvet on your palate as you smoke it. Medium
bodied with lots of coffee and tobacco character. A fine and refreshing
finish that brings you back for more.
--James Suckling
|
|
Romeo Y Julieta Exhibicion No. 3 (1983)
93 An oily wrapper on a beautiful corona-gorda-sized cigar. It had all the mellowness of a 20-year-old smoke, but was laced with subtle notes of leather and an earthiness that made it extremely pleasing. It drew perfectly and had a long, earthy finish that remained long after I laid down the cigar.
--Gordon Mott
|
|
Davidoff 4000 (1981)
91 Looks like chocolate. It even says "maduro" on the bottom of the box. Medium
to full bodied with a very cedary character. Soft and almost sweet finish.
Slightly drying out.
--James Suckling
|
Check out our Connoisseur's Corner Archive
Back to top
|
Cigar Aficionado RSS Feed