Results Of Cigar No 3 Blind Tasting 2017\

[First Lady]

Hi guys

 

This one seemed to stump a few of you

 

Hope you are all enjoying the Comp and well done to those who picked right

 

Cigar Number 3 was .......... H UPMANN NO 2  MEG JUN 16

 

BLIND TASTING COMP 2017 cigar 3.pdf

 

I will put the next Post up for Cigar No 4 tomorrow

 

Cheers

 

Lisa

[jfire]

I was in between the Monte 2 or Diplo 2. Good thing I wasn't alone in that frame of mind. Prob half the guesses on a quick glance....
Where's the dirty youthfulness of a young H upmann when you need it!?!?
(On second thought the last 3rd of mine was so harsh I immediately let it go out.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Thomasdenaro]

damn, first one i have got wrong, i was convinced it was a diplo. good to see i wasn't he only one. 

 

congrats to all who guessed correctly. 

 

and thank you Lisa for putting the results together!

[Habana Mike]

Interesting to see that out of all guesses 14 were for the Upmann 20%, 14 for the VR Unicos 20% and 25 for the Diplomaticos 36%. Leaves 8 for the Monte and 7 for Partagas then 1 La Punta and 1 BBF - Campanas.

Perhaps that theory about lack of marca differentiation of late isn't so far fetched.

 

[dominattorney]

I also guesses the diplo. I've smoked around 50 h upmann no 2 and have never had one that dark. Perhaps I just got a bad one like piggy and a few others were talking about. I actually smoked an upmann no 2 2 hours before cigar no 3 and I noticed no similarities whatsoever. 

[Texwrangler]

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........2/3 now.

[spivey6690]

19 minutes ago, Texwrangler said:

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........2/3 now.

We're tied, Aggie.  

[busdriver]

Preconceived ideas of what the cigar is prior to smoking it has adversely affectes this year and last for me.  The nutty creaminess of the last third was def upmann to me but I was convinced it was a diplo before smoking.  Gotta trust the taste, not the instincts!

[TheBaron]

Haha! The only one I was sure it wasn't.

Man I suck at this.

[TheBaron]

1 hour ago, dominattorney said:

I also guesses the diplo. I've smoked around 50 h upmann no 2 and have never had one that dark. Perhaps I just got a bad one like piggy and a few others were talking about. I actually smoked an upmann no 2 2 hours before cigar no 3 and I noticed no similarities whatsoever. 

That's what threw me, too. Looking at the near maduro wrapper I just put a cross straight through Upmann No.2. I was tossing between Monte 2 and VR Unicos.

Not even close...

[ShortFatHokie]

WOW!  Tasted nothing like any Upmann, not just the NO. 2, but ANY Upmann I've ever had.

[Head83]

I wish I would have known about this forum earlier, this competition has been interesting to watch and looks like a lot of fun!

[BuzzArd]

What a surprise. I had an Upmann from a recent 2424 partial box the night prior and it was nothing like the blind stick.  I mean, worlds apart!  

It's a tough game, this...

[wabashcr]

7 hours ago, Habana Mike said:

Interesting to see that out of all guesses 14 were for the Upmann 20%, 14 for the VR Unicos 20% and 25 for the Diplomaticos 36%. Leaves 8 for the Monte and 7 for Partagas then 1 La Punta and 1 BBF - Campanas.

Perhaps that theory about lack of marca differentiation of late isn't so far fetched.

 

These blind tastings all but prove it for me.  I know many (most?) of us who participate aren't experts qualified in Habanos tasting.  But if the blending and marca "DNA" still existed, you'd think we'd do a little better than we are currently.  Especially an H Upmann.  I'd bet quite a few participants have smoked hundreds, or even thousands of Upmanns, and got this completely wrong.

Of course there's nothing scientific about this theory.  But I do believe, especially with tobacco shortages of recent years, in many cases Cuba just rolls cigars with whatever tobacco they have on hand, and then put whatever bands on them the higher ups call for.  I don't think that's the case for every cigar or every factory.  But I think it probably happens quite a bit.

[MahDooRow]

6 hours ago, ShortFatHokie said:

WOW!  Tasted nothing like any Upmann, not just the NO. 2, but ANY Upmann I've ever had.

^ This is exactly what I thought.  In my email to Lisa I said that I expected cigar #3 to be an Upmann #2, but from the pre-light draw all the way to the end it tasted nothing like an Upmann #2.  In the 1st third the flavors were very Partagas, so I thought it might be a PSP2.  However, the middle third and final third tasted a lot like a VR Unico minus the cocoa/chocolate.  I told Lisa I had never smoked a VR Unico that didn't yield some flavors of cocoa/chocolate, but everything else pointed to the Unico.  

Cigar #3 was by far the best of the first three.  The Upmann #2 is among my favorite; and while I loved every minute of cigar #3, I am shocked to learn that cigar #3 is indeed an Upmann #2.  This blind tasting is quite the humbling learning experience.  

[spivey6690]

Lisa, is anyone 3/3?  

[PigFish]

... another hard lesson about cigar profiles..! -LOL

-Piggy

[watches_whiskies_cigars]

7 hours ago, wabashcr said:

But I do believe, especially with tobacco shortages of recent years, in many cases Cuba just rolls cigars with whatever tobacco they have on hand, and then put whatever bands on them the higher ups call for.  I don't think that's the case for every cigar or every factory.  But I think it probably happens quite a bit.

Given that the box code was MEG (H Upmann factory), these cigars were rolled at the mother factory and yet the core DNA of an H Upmann was lacking. I'd say that the problem of bands being slapped on to cigars is more pernicious than what one may give Tabacuba the benefit of the doubt for.

[BEVOSREVENGE]

FWIW - My mystery cigar tasted just like my PSP MEG MAR 16 box.

 

[cardinalfan85]

Man... H. Upmann, never would have guessed (well maybe 20% of the time or so).  I was actually between Partagas and Diplomaticos, this is hard! 

[BuzzArd]

When I put it in the humidor I dropped it right on top of the H Upmanns I had waiting and noted that it could have come out of the same box they were so similar in color and rolling.  Should have guessed right then...!    

Of all the four piramides I smoked prior it tasted most like the Partagas P2. Shortbread, little to no spice. Zero leather or pepper, and a cinnamon like sweetness I've never tasted in any cigar.  The only Dip 2 I ever had was in the Christmas sampler and was virtually unsmokably plugged, but in reading various on-line reviews of the Dip 2 and El Prez's own descriptions in the past that's what I guessed this time.   Was the cinnamon sweetness that threw me.   180° out of phase with the H Upmann No2 I had two weeks ago.  

If I could get several boxes that taste just like No 3 I'd quit buying other marcas.  I thought it was fantastic. 

[First Lady]

7 hours ago, spivey6690 said:

Lisa, is anyone 3/3?  

There are Two members

WATCHES_WHISKIES_CIGARS

PHARMACOVIGILANT

 

 

[schquigly]

Nailed it!

[Tesoro12]

The first one I've actually gotten! I was between the Upmann and the diplo, I just thought it lacked a pepper character I associate with dip. The wood flavor on this was somewhat similar to some other upmann I've had and so that's why I ultimately leaned that way

[dflan82]

Congrats to those that got this one. Upmann was one of the first piramedes that I ruled out   

This one tasted nothing like an H. Upmann to me. I thought Cigar #3 to be most similar to a young VR with dense dark chocolate + tobacco throughout and hints of cinnamon and coffee (tiramisu) along the way. 

Oh well, on to the next one!