There is something different to a Partagas.
While the legendary brand has the most famous (recently renovated) factory in Havana, there is a mystique to it, an air of exclusivity that even more easily recognizable brands like Montecristo and Cohiba somehow don’t seem to possess.
A Partagas is different; it is understatedly elegant. It is a cigar to be smoked out of a humidor in a private club.
That’s what’s made it long a favorite of connoisseurs of habanos, drawn to a brand that first started in 1845 and remains at the top of the class among full-bodied Cuban smokes.
And while for years the Serie D. No. 4 was the brand’s flagship (along with classics like the Lusitania and the Salomon), in 2011 Habanos unveiled two new luminaries for the Partagas range: the Serie D. No. 5. and the Serie E. No. 2, both instantly becoming Cuban classics.
Six years later, the Serie D. No. 4 remains the standard-bearer, but the Serie E No. 2. has given it a run for its money as the leading Partagas smoke.
This is a substantial cigar, with a light-brown wrapper, a 54 ring gauge and a 140mm length, and its flavor hits you from the beginning.
The first thing that stands out is a lovely tanginess, wrapping an edge around notes of leather and wood, with the underlying earthiness you expect from a Partagas.
The flavors are meticulously balanced, with a great draw that eventually opens you up to a spicy note as you get into the second half of the cigar.
It’s the kind of cigar that immediately captivates, intoxicating with its subtlety, never hitting you over the head.
It’s an exceptional smoke.
In other words, it’s a Partagas.
— Alexander Britell
