Partagas Lusitania - UEB MAR 19 (L&SRW2)

[saltbox]

Back in November 2020, I won a 10 box. There was some debate over what it could be, as there aren't many 10ers of Churchills in production anymore, but the post was edited to say Churchill/DC and it turned out to be a 10 box of Partagas Lusitanias (wow!). It took a bit longer than hoped to arrive, but it finally did, and the box was amazing. Great sheen on all of the cigars and even a nice bit of age with the UEB MAR 19 box code. Unfortunately, a couple of the cigars got banged up a bit in transit, but I'm not complaining.

I hate lettings things go to waste, but smoking cigars with badly damaged wrappers can be frustrating even with the aid of cigar glue. Wrapper splits often expand as the cigar expands from heat, and holes in the wrapper/binder create frustrating draws that inhibit smoke output.

This ended up being the perfect opportunity to test out an idea I've been sitting on: using rolling papers and cigar glue to provide more structural integrity, seal up any holes that would prevent a good draw, and allow for a frustration free smoking experience without any adverse effects on flavor. I was excited enough to try it that I decided to give it a whirl today, even with just 2 days of rest at 62RH. I've avoided smoking any cigars ROTT in the past, so there were a lot of new factors at play here: lack of rest, damaged wrappers, and the addition of rolling papers and cigar glue, but I was eager to see how it went.

First, the cigar in question. I had already applied a fair amount of cigar glue to hold the pieces in place, so it looks better than it actually is, but the foot was falling apart, and there were many deep cracks along the length of the cigar.

 

The tools in question I had at my disposal: Bermocoll 320 cigar glue and Raw unrefined rolling papers.

 

After a bit of trial and error, the technique I settled on was taking a piece of the rolling paper, dabbing some cigar glue on it, and using my finger to spread out a thin layer across the sheet. I was then able to place the cigar over it and it ended up being pretty simple to flatten it around the cigar. With the extent of the damage, I opted to just wrap the whole thing, which took about 4 sheets, and the end result looked like a burn victim.

 

I let it sit for probably 10-15 minutes to dry while I got ready to head out for (hopefully) a long smoke.

First third: Well, it lit up successfully, so great start. Opens up with the nice familiar Partagas sweet cream and spice, though the paprika is quite faint. There's a bit more peppery spice than expected, but that calms down after the first inch or so. The flavor hits a lull after another half inch or so, but eventually some dark milk coffee and light caramel sweetness appear. The burn, while not super even, only requires a few very quick touch ups, nothing out of the norm for even a pristine cigar.

 

Second third: Cedar joins the mix of flavors as the sweetness fades to the background. The paprika remains quite faint, and there are a few occasional sour notes towards the middle. As I near the end, some earthy notes appear as well.

 

Last third: The spices pick back up again, and in particular chili pepper spiciness comes forward in full force, something I don't experience often with Cubans. The dark coffee richness goes well with the sourdough notes, but at this point the finish has a waxy feeling to it. It doesn't affect the flavor and isn't a huge problem, but it is a minorly unpleasant sensation. A touch of nuttiness appears as well as the cigar nears the nub.

 

Overall: Honestly, I think the experiment was a resounding success. I've never smoked a cigar, let alone a Cuban that had traveled through international waters, this shortly after delivery, and I expect that the somewhat muted flavors I experienced were likely driven by that. Smoking the cigar was completely frustration free, even more so than other cigars I've had with immaculate wrappers. There were no issues with wrapper splits or poor draw and the burn line, while uneven at times, only required occasional touch ups and mostly self corrected itself. Applying the rolling papers wasn't difficult and was actually kind of fun. This cigar was the most damaged by far from the box, but there is another cigar with damage like this that I plan on trying this on once it has had some time to rest. I'm also considering whether I should try preemptively applying rolling papers and letting the cigar rest, so the excess moisture from the cigar glue has time to dissipate before smoking, as opposed to applying the cigar glue immediately before smoking. Overall, a good cigar that has a lot of potential once given some rest, and one that had I not been able to see, would not have known was mummified. 87/100 for the cigar, 100/100 for the repair method.

[JohnS]

Haha, technically-speaking, all cigars are 'burn victims'! 😁

Great job on the repairs and the review! 👍

[ChangBang]

Nice job and review!  Have you had this cigar before without the rolling papers?  Any big tasting differences? 

Hm maybe if I have a plugged cigar in the future, cut it open and hopefully find the plug, extract it then stitch it back up w/glue and rolling papers!

[Bri Fi]

I’ve noticed something about ROTT sticks. They smoke very well literally ROTT. if you wait a few days or a couple weeks it turns into a disaster. They sticks aren’t good until resting for a month or two. I have no idea why that is. But my personal experience. I’m glad your experiment worked for you. A+ for ingenuity

[Fosgate]

14 minutes ago, ChangBang said:

Nice job and review!  Have you had this cigar before without the rolling papers?  Any big tasting differences? 

Hm maybe if I have a plugged cigar in the future, cut it open and hopefully find the plug, extract it then stitch it back up w/glue and rolling papers!

Nice Review!

Get yourself a 4 in one cigar tool to clear out plugs. 

[ChangBang]

Just now, Fosgate said:

Nice Review!

Get yourself a 4 in one cigar tool to clear out plugs. 

Oh yea I have a perfecdraw, but even that doesn't always help especially when the cigar is overweight and packed too tight in general

[Fosgate]

2 minutes ago, ChangBang said:

Oh yea I have a perfecdraw, but even that doesn't always help especially when the cigar is overweight and packed too tight in general

True. Only thing then is massage it hoping it work itself out, do like you said or toss it. 

[saltbox]

22 minutes ago, ChangBang said:

Nice job and review!  Have you had this cigar before without the rolling papers?  Any big tasting differences? 

Hm maybe if I have a plugged cigar in the future, cut it open and hopefully find the plug, extract it then stitch it back up w/glue and rolling papers!

Not this box code, but I have had some Lusitania from a 50 cab of EBO JUN 20, and the only difference I could identify was the flavors being a bit muted, but that could easily just be the lack of rest. 

[ChangBang]

Good to hear it didn't impart any weird flavors on the cigar - usually if the perfecdraw doesnt help, I toss the cigar anyways so might as well see if i can save it!

[saltbox]

11 minutes ago, Bri Fi said:

I’ve noticed something about ROTT sticks. They smoke very well literally ROTT. if you wait a few days or a couple weeks it turns into a disaster. They sticks aren’t good until resting for a month or two. I have no idea why that is. But my personal experience. I’m glad your experiment worked for you. A+ for ingenuity

I’ve actually been running some experiments with freshly received boxes to understand what’s going on with moisture content and how that changes with rest. With FOH boxes, I’ve noticed that when placed in a sealed bag immediately after receipt, a hygrometer registers around 63RH. With other vendors that possibly store at a higher RH and typically include higher percentage Boveda packs, typically 69RH but sometimes even 72RH, the boxes register 67RH or higher when placed in a sealed bag with a hygrometer and no Boveda pack. 
 

Given that, I wouldn’t be surprised if FOH-shipped cigars both smoke better ROTT and acclimate faster (if your preferred RH level is in the 62RH range like it seems to be most commonly). 

[Bijan]

50 minutes ago, Bri Fi said:

I’ve noticed something about ROTT sticks. They smoke very well literally ROTT. if you wait a few days or a couple weeks it turns into a disaster. They sticks aren’t good until resting for a month or two. I have no idea why that is. But my personal experience. I’m glad your experiment worked for you. A+ for ingenuity

My theory is that they are at whatever humidity/moisture level they are when you get them. If you put them in your humidor the humidity level might cause moisture to enter or leave and moisture level will become uneven between wrapper binder and filler until a month or two pass and it returns to steady state of the new moisture level which is in equilibrium with your storage.

[JZBdano]

@philipl you're a genius.  I've got a Tainos in need of major surgery.  

[rcarlson]

Just happened to have rolling papers lying around, huh?  😈

[helix]

Admire the effort , I'd of tossed it.

[Greenhorn2]

11 hours ago, rcarlson said:

Just happened to have rolling papers lying around, huh?  😈

My thoughts exactly!

[mprach024]

This is brilliant!  Ingenuity for the win!  

[KavalanWhisky]

I have some Libertadors with blown wrappers as well, shame they are PSP box ones.

Might do this to them as I have just stored them in the humidor to age as I wasn't sure how i would end up smoking them.

[saltbox]

17 hours ago, rcarlson said:

Just happened to have rolling papers lying around, huh?  😈

😆 I’ll admit I’ve had my fair share of experience with rolling papers, but I was pleasantly surprised to find them readily available for just a few bucks on Amazon, right alongside “spice” grinders. 😉