Barber pole wrappers bring a fun & cool vibe to the look of a cigar. There is no one-way to do it either. Various leaf combinations can be used, different spacings, and maybe even toss in a 3rd leaf to the mix. Getting the combination correct isn't as easy as it looks though. Just like with any cigar, some are on point and some miss the mark. The idea of having two wrappers sounds cool, but at times I feel like the wrappers are competing with each other on notes. One comes in, then the other pushes forward, so on & so forth. Maybe that floats your boat, but I prefer a barber pole cigar that has wrappers that smoke in harmony. Transitions are fine, but the profile in each third should be singing like a church choir. Some of my favorite twisted leaves are RoMa Craft Aquitaine Saber Tooth, Morphine by Black Label Trading Company, and The Deseret from Apostate Cigars which perhaps doesn't quite qualify as a barber pole but also shows that the sky is the limit with design.
This leads me to the cigar we're analyzing today, the Añejo Esplendido from Partagas. These dropped in 2022 and were draped in some old leaves. The Cameroon wrapper came from the 1998 crop and shares a little bit of real estate with a Connecticut wrapper from 2013. I'm not sure if the future releases will have the exact same vintage as the release, but Partagas stated that the line is to focus on vintage tobaccos. I like those stats, so let's fire it up and see how this twisted this pole is.
The Deets
Cigar: Partagas Añejo Esplendido
Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Size: 4.5 x 60
Wrapper: Cameroon & Connecticut
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic, Mexico
Appearance 7/10
I was having a hard time understanding why Partagas chose to showcase this vitola the way they did. First off, the band is way too big and covers up 50% of the cigar. Not only is it gaudy, but large bands never fit well on figurados. Fail in that department. Moving on to more important issues, what a sloppy figurado. Gum stains in two locations, some dings & blemishes, and I can feel soft patches from a poor bunching. The foot tapers just a smidge and then protrudes out like it's going for a kiss. Looks stupid. I know that's not high-brow writing, but that is what comes to mind; stupid. Seams are ok. Cap is fine, except for an obvious wrapper patch. Meh...
Draw 8/10
Plucked a piece of lumber and I still had a very tight cold draw. I removed another plank of wood and then it was on the open side. Figures, I know how that goes. Things tightened up a little about half way and was better. The lumber yard reminded me why I stopped scooping up Black Label on the cheap. I could never get a draw and had to pull out the chainsaw every time. It doesn't appear that the situation is any different here.
Burn/Construction 8/10
The kissyface foot decided to crack upon lighting and splintered its way down about 1/2". The crack held though and burned through it best it could. Things began to get squishy at the midpoint. The two log jams that were removed probably aided in that softness. Super wavy burn with a few touchups. Ash was clingy, so that's good.
Taste 8/10
1/3 - Off the foot I get dusty sawdust with a very mild spice. There is cinnamon in the way back but is heavily muted. One inch in and I'm bored. The retro is that of paper with a small Splenda finish. Not much to speak of here. Pretty mild.
2/3 - Yay! I've never been so excited to see a leather note join the party. I just wanted anything to show up. The finish picks up the sweetness a tad and maybe some white pepper on the retro. Inching its way to Mild+.
3/3 - Mmm, toasted pecan has been added to the very short list of notes and I'm glad it did. This is by far the tastiest note, but I wish it had showed up much earlier. I also wish I could say more about the flavors here, although I can't. If I get a whopping tally of 2 notes from a cigar, then that's all I can share. This is a no bs analysis.
Overall 7.8/10
Honestly, I couldn't wait to simply smoke something else. This cigar wasn't off putting. There were no flavors that had me spitting into a cup, but that's because there were almost no flavors, at least that I could find. This would be a nice choice for a beginner. The size is small and manageable with a super light body. So if you're new in your cigar journey, maybe this one will be nice to try. If you're experienced, then perhaps keep browsing.
**Number of cigars smoked for the review: 1
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