Cigar Aficionado | Web Features | Connoisseur's Corner, June 2004

| Print | Site Map

Advertising Information

Home > What's New > Connoisseur's Corner, June 2004

Email this feature to a friend

Connoisseur's Corner, June 2004

Posted: Monday, July 12, 2004

Reprinted from the June 2004 issue of Cigar Aficionado

A 1992 Partagas Lusitania, a nine-year-old Ramon Allones Specially Selected and a Punch Punch that just turned 13 all scored 95 points or higher to earn our rarest accolade -- classic -- in this latest edition of Connoisseur's Corner. We now have rated 44 cigars as classic in this section since its inauguration, in our June 2001 issue.

The Lusitania was nearly perfect, scoring 98 points. The cigar, the largest made in the Cuban Partagas brand, had a wrapper that seeped with oils and a rich, earthy flavor.

The oldest cigar in this group, a 36-year-old H. Upmann Lonsdale, showed notes of tea and light sandalwood. A 1979 version rated in 2001 was fresh and tangy by comparison, yet still had that creamy, woody flavor.

Label

Partagas Lusitania (1992)
98
Everything this legendary cigar could ever be. The wrapper remains oil-saturated, with a dark brownish-red color. The draw is perfect with a pretty tight ash. It has a smooth toastiness, and a long finish with hints of earthiness. It's rich. It's great.
--Marvin R. Shanken

Dot

Label

Ramon Allones Specially Selected (1995)
96
This elegant robusto has a wonderfully sweet and smooth texture. It has an easy, light draw and is very rich in taste. It's almost perfect to smoke now.
--Marvin R. Shanken

Dot

Label

Punch Punch (1991)
95
This came from a cabinet of 50 dark and oily smokes. It was bought in Havana in 1994 and never moved from there -- it stayed in a locker at the 5th Avenue Cigar shop. I gave one to an aficionado friend and he said it was a dud. But mine was superb. Full-bodied and rich, it had an amazing black pepper character with hints of cinnamon. I couldn't put the damn thing down.
--James Suckling

Dot

Label

H. Upmann Lonsdale Cabinet (1968)
94
This came from a lovely cedar cabinet of 50 cigars produced in the late 1960s for a cigar merchant in London. It still shows wonderful creamy and rich flavors, but they are balanced with tea and light sandalwood notes. It's even nutty and honeyed. This is a perfect morning smoke -- I smoked it at 1 a.m. in a nightclub in Havana. Terrific.
--James Suckling

Dot

Label

H. Upmann Sir Winston (1993)
93
This has always been a great Churchill cigar. Super quality. Lovely chocolate and cedar with tobacco and cappuccino character. Full-bodied. Long finish. It has a slightly quick draw, but who cares?
--James Suckling

Dot

Label

Bolivar Royal Coronas (1991)
92
This robusto packs a lot of flavor, with cedar, coffee and tobacco character throughout. It's full-bodied yet refined and caressing on the palate. Long, long aftertaste. At its peak now.
--James Suckling

Dot

Check out our Connoisseur's Corner Archive