Robusto Rumble – Partagas D4 (Vintage Collection) SEU Nov 04 – Glenfarclas 30-Year-Old Malt - James Squire ‘150 Lashes’ Pale Ale.
The final cigar for the Robusto Rumble is one from the depths of my own humidor, one of my very last from this box. And what a cracking box it has been – the Partagas D4 (Vintage Collection) SEU Nov 04. Looking back over notes, there was an 89 and one or two 90/91 scores but most have been 94, 95 or 96. Can’t be unhappy with that.
Love the Partagas D4. If someone said we are drawing lots for cigars for the desert island and you can never smoke anything else, if you got the D4 then you would not complain (well, you might whinge endlessly about being exiled to a desert island but that is a different matter). Might prefer a Lusi or a SLR DC, but I'd take the D4. And I would especially take them if they were all as good as this stick. It might just have been the best from the entire box.
Draw was fine. A very pale Colorado wrapper. Cigar was in excellent condition. If one looked closely, even a touch of strawberry in the colour.
Just to make Whipcrack happy I lit this with perhaps more care than any cigar has ever seen before. In fairness to Whipcrack, I should confess that this box was entirely his recommendation – one of his best!
Immediate notes of toast, nuts and burnt caramel. This morphed into creamy coffee but the caramel was always there. This was complex, though quite subtle for a Partagas, which was a little surprising but not unwelcome. An absolutely cracking cigar, which maintained elite quality as it evolved throughout. Mature and a gossamer-like texture. This was like smoking a caramel mist. For me, 96 to 97. Brilliant.
The drinks. As this was on a pleasant afternoon, a good beer was a fine match although perhaps not a stellar one. James Squire ‘150 Lashes’ Pale Ale is a good beer for a pleasant afternoon. There would have been worse choices.
The second drink, the Glenfarclas 30-Year-Old Malt, was a bit special. Seaweed, iodine and notes of dry herbs. The complexity here, and the balance, worked superbly. A full bottle of this is seriously expensive. My sample was not quite that size (sadly), but more than enough. I can’t think of too many cigars that would not benefit from being paired with this amazing malt.
The Robusto Rumble has been fun. What has it proved? Not too sure. Using a single stick as the example is what we do, but it is fraught with danger. Some of the cigars did not quite measure up. Others exceeded expectations. A different stick from the same box might, of course, have yielded different results.
Robusto is a size, shape, feel of cigar I like. I think that, in general, the various Houses take serious care of these as they are so well known around the world. Long may that remain so.
The pick? Well, it is unfair, given the extra age, but this one stood up as head and shoulders. As one would have probably guessed. But it is what it is.
Next, we move to Corona gordas. A smaller array but we should have some fun.
KBG
