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In the spirit of the holiday season, let me quote from the classic movie "A Christmas Story" as related by our hero Ralphie: "Now it is well known throughout the midwest that the old man is a turkey junky, a bonafide golly turkacnis freak." It may be well known in the Southeast, or at least on my street, that I am a Partagas Short junkie. A bonafide party minuto freak I do truly love these things. This is from my oldest box, which as you see is dwindling. After the FOH video this year about dipping in water, I've taken to doing that with ones that seem a tad ... dry. Maybe not as dry as the turkey that Catherine made in that other holiday classic "Christmas Vacation", but dry nonetheless. So this one got a dip, and you can see a prelude to the flavor with my crock of sourdough on the counter. Partagas. Pepper, spice, sourdough. A wonderful 30ish minute smoke in the out of doors a mere few days before Christmas. A tad squishy under the band, but a nice even burn and excellent smoke. I've found that the size of the ash is directly related to me getting my phone ready to take a picture (the longest ash ALWAYS falls right before the pic), but I also find that dipping in water tends to make super long ashes more rare. Which I suppose makes sense. I've yet to get a 50 cabinet of these, my two holy grails (are you listening Santa?) are a cab of these and a cab of the PLPC's. Someday. I've bought so many damn cigars this year that I feel like the cabs will come in time. But I know that I will be smoking these shorts until I'm done smoking cigars. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all! My wife and I will be on an anniversary trip through Europe in a few days, so expect some reviews or notes about shops in Berlin, Prague, Budapest, and/or Vienna. I'll keep my eyes peeled for any RE's, and may buy a party short to smoke there, but my coin mostly comes here nowadays.

I really haven't been smoking for much time compared to some of the older members here on the Forum. But, having started 5 years ago one of the first Cuban cigars I started smoking was the Partagas Short. The box I'm smoking from today was one I put away shortly after I began smoking, a cabinet from 2013. I was a Freshman in college at the time, and my friends and I though smoking cigars made us look cool (it did), but it also gave us a chance to relax during the week in between studying. I was even more naive then than I am now, and really did not have many obligations. It is interesting to see how that has changed to today. Relatively cheap, consistent, and having much praise on the forums the Partagas short was a convenient cigar for me to have regularly in the humidor. Especially, being that I really wasn't making much money from my work study job. Plus, I didn't mind passing them out to friends to have them enjoy as well. The opening has traditional Partagas sourdough bread, a bit of spice and leather. Interestingly, there are some floral notes when retro inhaled through the nose. A touch of sweet bell pepper enters the palate, a welcomed addition. To drink today I decided to do a comparison between the new Ardbeg An Oa and the Ardbeg 10. The new An Oa is slightly darker in the glass with less peat and more fruity notes, where as the original 10-year is more pale and has much more intense peat on the nose. I must say, the sweetness of the cigar is lasting much longer on the palate opposed to fresher versions of the Partagas Short. Age really does add more to this small cigar. A couple strong draws makes the ash fall prematurely but there is a lot of sweetness on the palate. More of a bell pepper/ leather note through the retro inhale than earlier in the cigar. The original Ardbeg 10 has classic sharp peat, not as much sweetness is noted in the new release. Red fruits, cherries are noted in the An Oa where is there is a slight citrus note in the older Ardbeg 10. As the second third opens all the floral has disappeared. There is still consistent leather, sourdough bread and bell pepper sweetness. Not much change or evolution. Some roasted nuts occasionally but not a dominant flavor. The burn is fairly good. Only one touch up is needed at the beginning of the final third. Not much change to the cigar. But, it's a good honest, not overpowering, flavorful, short smoke. Exactly what you expect from a five-year-old minuto. Consistent and reliable, better than right off the truck and well worth the time and effort age them. The Ardbeg An Oa is recommended. Very consistent with the typical Ardbeg flavor but more fruit. I will be purchasing it again. Thinking back to where I was 5 years ago, while not a long time, reminds me of what I learned in that time. Needless to say, I am excited to see where I will be in another 5. Hopefully, not studying.