The H.Upmann Noella is one of those cigars that seems to sell out quickly every time it's offered on a 24:24 sale on FoH. It intrigued me why that was the case, and in writing this review, I hope to provide some answers to this question.
The H.Upmann Noella was a standard production cigar, sold in glass jars, up until the early 1980s. In 2009, a limited exclusive run of 5000 jars were made available. In 2013, an unknown number of jars were re-released, whether these were original 2009 Noellas or not is speculation. (My opinion is that the 2013 re-release were a different blend). This information is sourced from Cuban Cigar Website here:
http://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/brand.aspx?brand=H._Upmann#255_LCDH_Exclusivo_Glass_Jar
Of course, I must acknowledge and thank the founder of CCW, Trevor Leask, for providing me this 2009 Noella to sample, which I did so after resting in my humidor for a bit over six months.
This cigar's wrapper was halfway between a Colorado Claro and Claro shade, with a wonderful barnyard aroma. The cold draw was acceptable for my liking. The initial draws on the cigar were smooth and creamy, I was a little surprised.
The first third had a extremely pleasant shortbread and toasted tobacco profile, like you'd expect in an aged H.Upmann cigar. The construction and burn were fine.
The second third saw a complete turnaround in the flavour of the cigar, but this is not a bad thing. It became more medium-mild and now espresso and nut flavours came to the fore.
The final third contained even more surprises, as the Noella settled into a medium-bodied smoke with strong bitter chocolate notes.
Despite the complexity of this cigar, It was a great 'change of pace', and I delighted in nubbing it.
In summary, this is a great option if you like a multi-flavoured, complex 'change-of-pace' cigar, I now understand why these are so popular when put up periodically on 24:24 sales, it's definitely worthy of spending time in your humidor!
Finally, I must also acknowledge maverickdrinker's review of the 2013 Noella on his blog, The 'Dirty' Ashes, here for providing a sound reference for this review.
https://thedirtyashes.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/2013-h-upmann-noella/