HUHC MOE FEB 15 (49SRW)

[MrBirdman]

Not much time for smoking with the holiday hubbub, and so I reached for an Upmann Half Corona. I’ve found these need some age to shine, and this box has been excellent so far. Today’s was even better. 

Draw on these tends to be relatively loose for the RG, and this was at the far end of what I would consider acceptable. Luckily it didn’t impact the enjoyment at all. I won’t even bother breaking this into halves, because it was a one note wonder. 

Opening is an immediate hit of maple syrup, with a touch of a sweet spice I can’t quite put my finger on, maybe nutmeg. This quickly progresses to what I love about these: pure, syrup-drenched pancakes slathered with fresh butter. And there it stays, as I take about 35 minutes to very slowly enjoy this and keep its flavors pure. Towards the very end there’s some coffee, verging on coffee grinds, but it isn’t bitter in a bad way. And these absolutely have to be retrohaled to get their flavor - without it they are relatively bland. 

As you can see, I truly nubbed this one and didn’t want it to end. Once the heat from the smoke started burning my tongue I put it down, wishing I had a pipe for the remnants. 

So there you go - nothing too complicated. But this time of year that pancake & syrup flavor kills it, and this smoke scored about as much as this format can. 

Overall: 93 (and for the format: 98)

[BeerPimp]

Great review I definitely need to break into my box.   I smoked one ROTT and it reminded me of a Connie 1 but with more of a coffee and spice kick.   My box is UEB JUN 2019.