H. Upmann Magnum 46 (courtesy of CIGARHead)

[MaltPointer]

In the post entitled, “I want to try something,” CIGARHead made note of the influx of new members to the site, and offered up some free CC’s to the first newbie(s) who responded. I was one of the lucky three selected (and a hat-tip to my buddy Mike, who saw this on the board, and tracked me down to let me know).

Austin had a couple conditions: 1) that we post a review on the site; and, 2) we pay it forward someday downstream.

Here’s me meeting the first condition, by posting a review of one of the two cigars sent to me, an H. Upmann Magnum 46. (The other was a Cohiba Siglo II, fyi; review coming soon.)

Couple things about this review:

• My pictures came out awful . . . I’m gonna need to figure out how to take close-ups with my digital camera. Seems like it should be easy, but I didn’t have time to go to school on it today, so no pictures. I’ll figure it out before my next review. Promise

• I will try to be very transparent about my newbie status—I’m quite new to smoking cigars, and I have a LOT to learn. I’m shooting for transparency for a couple of reasons. Primarily, to receive feedback, which will help not only me but also other noobs. And, because to do otherwise would read as fake, and I’ve spent enough time on this board to know that you guys would, ahem, smoke me out in a heartbeat.

Enough throat-clearing . . . on to the stick.

The H. Upmann is a lovely cigar . . . and the wrapper on this one was in fine shape. The pre-light aroma was slightly funky, but in a sweet way. Kinda like walking through a barnyard strewn with the occasional clump of lavender. Maybe while eating a prune or a fig. earthy, sweet, comfortable.

Put the head in my mouth (now there’s a sentence I wouldn’t have imagined typing a couple years ago), and got a faint nutty taste. Clipped the end with a Xikar cutter, and took a pre-light draw. Draw felt a little tight to me (more on my humidity issues later), and still getting a faint hit of nuts (almonds?), and that “clean tobacco” taste I keep reading about.

Toasted the foot (with long-ish wooden matches), got it lit, and started the game in earnest.

Here are my notes by thirds:

First third:

• Clean toasted tobacco

• Roasted nuts (almonds?)

• Strong hit of coffee with cream in it

• The infamous “pepper in the nose,” when I ran the smoke thru my nose.

• Still that faint and occasional floral note of lavender

• An occasional wisp of what I can only describe as slightly burnt popcorn, i.e., that taste you get when you bite into a piece of popcorn that got nuked a little too hard in the microwave.

I suspect that last has a bit to do with my inexperience at lighting cigars. I tried like hell to keep the foot out of the flame, but I don’t think I was uniformly successful.

I’ll also mention that I was getting a slightly uneven burn that, by the time I got the second third, required some touching up. It wasn’t tunneling, but one side was definitely burning at a slower pace. I’ve had this stick in my desktop humidor for over a week at a pretty consistent 65%, but the only thing I can figure is that the “up” side of the cigar, that was in contact with the air, dried at a slightly higher pace than the “down” side, which was in contact with other cigars.

I’ve already moved the Cohiba Siglo II that I’ll smoke next off to a private corner of the humidor, where it’s all by itself.

Final note of the first third was that the draw loosened up considerably as time went on.

Second Third

The flavors really opened up a bit in the middle third, as did the draw. Frankly, the draw ended up feeling a little loose to me during this phase of the cigar; not sure how to account for that.

Another thing I noticed was that the flavors really seemed more in the forefront here. By this I mean that, in the first third, I really had to roll the smoke around to tease out the flavors, but during this time, the flavors seemed to jump out as soon as the smoke rolled in. I can’t tell you if that’s a function of my own palate catching up, or it really is something that was the cigar’s doing.

My girlfriend was sitting with me in the back yard while I was smoking this, and she would periodically take a draw or two as I went along . . . she noticed, at one point, a slight hint of mint. I never got that, but thought I would mention it.

For me, the dominant flavors in this third were:

• Still lots of creamy, rich, dark roasted coffee

• The finish started to feel more peppery to me

• Don’t laugh at this next one, but at one point, as I was searching for the right way to describe the flavor I was getting, I thought “chicken pot pie.” Yeah, OK . . . go ahead and laugh, it’s alright. Anyway, the more I thought about that one, and tried to break down the flavors that could lead me there, I arrived at the taste of the pie crust of a chicken pot pie. So, that slightly buttery, baked taste . . . in a savory, non-dessert context.

Finally, for this third of the cigar, the burn started to even out, though it did go all the way out at one point. I found pretty quickly that once a minute wasn’t quite enough for this cigar at this humidity . . . more like every 45 seconds or so.

I got it re-lit, of course . . . purged by blowing once forward thru the cigar (lightly), and kept on smoking thru the final third.

Final Third

In the final section of the cigar, at least to my taste buds, the savory flavors—coffee, nuts, pie crust—started to slowly fade away while the pepper took the forefront. By the time I got to the nubbin, I was getting slightly bitter notes as well (perhaps the tar buildup?).

Bottom line—to my mind, this was a great cigar, and truly enjoyable. I think the slight quibbles I had with the overall smoke had more to do with my own learning curve, and much less to do with the quality of the stick. I enjoyed every second of this, and I loved the exercise of paying tight, close attention to every aspect of the experience. I can’t wait to smoke another one of these at some point in the future, and compare that future Mag 46 to this one.

So let me thank Austin once again . . . both for the cigars, and for the wisdom of asking that I write up reviews about smoking them. Knowing that I was gonna have to tell you lot about my experience focused my mind wonderfully.

[Ziggy]

» Put the head in my mouth (now there’s a sentence I wouldn’t have imagined

» typing a couple years ago), and got a faint nutty taste.

:rotfl:

Sorry, I can't help but laugh at this sentence.

Great review, and congrats on having the nerve to post it.

I have been writing reviews for myself, but I have yet to post one for lack of confidence in my own ability to discern the complex flavors of a cigar.

I happen to like burnt popcorn and chicken pot pie, and I like the Mag 46.

Thanks for the refreshing new look at this cigar.

Zig

[Ken Gargett]

nice review and a great concept. look forward to other reviews.

one thing with these cigars, i find they divide quite definitively into two categories, good and poor. it depends almost entirely on age. i find them really hard going up to about 18 months, give or take. then they blossom into something special. but up until then, would not bother. unless i missed it, didn't see an age for yours?

[MaltPointer]

» nice review and a great concept. look forward to other reviews.

» one thing with these cigars, i find they divide quite definitively into

» two categories, good and poor. it depends almost entirely on age. i find

» them really hard going up to about 18 months, give or take. then they

» blossom into something special. but up until then, would not bother.

» unless i missed it, didn't see an age for yours?

Thanks for the note, Ken. I don't actually know the age, since it was a gift from CIGARHead.

I'll send him a note, or he can just respond here on the forum.

[Colt45]

Great review

Personally, I think you should express what you think of a cigar in whatever terms you feel fit.

I've had a number of cigars that I've considered meaty, savory, buttery.

The term "meatstock" has been used on this board

I look forward to the rest of the CIGARHead series of reviews.

[greenpimp]

Great review! Continue to post other ones, and express what you taste. One of my favorite things about this habit-hobby-obsession is how everybody's palate differs. No one is right, and no one is wrong. Although it is wrong to mention putting heather and heads in your mouth while walking in a farmyard. My name's Paul and that's between y'all.

I always like to smoke a new cigar without reading any reviews of it first, if at all possible. Then I am tasting the cigar for the first time on my own, with only what I pick up. Later I read others and it is interesting to see where I agree and diverge from others. Often I read reviews that seem mere regurgitations of what many others say about a vitola.

I still remember my first Mag46. I still remember the flavor and fragrance of jasmine. And I still do, today, on good ones. It is often my favorite cigar.

[Ken Gargett]

»

» Great review, and congrats on having the nerve to post it.

» I have been writing reviews for myself, but I have yet to post one for

» lack of confidence in my own ability to discern the complex flavors of a

» cigar.

the rest of us make them up, why not you?

[MaltPointer]

» Although it is wrong to mention putting heather and heads in your mouth

» while walking in a farmyard. My name's Paul and that's between y'all.

»

Yikes. I hadn't quite noticed what I did there. Makes me glad I mentioned my girlfriend in the review. Hell, makes me glad I have a girlfriend to mention. :-)

Charles

[Sandman]

Great review! Keep them coming. I recently smoked a couple of 05 Mag45's that were off the hook good, but I am always leary of buying a box because I read so many negative reviews of these.

[Mel]

» Great review! Keep them coming. I recently smoked a couple of 05 Mag45's

» that were off the hook good, but I am always leary of buying a box because

» I read so many negative reviews of these.

I have NOT had good luck with this cigar with to many being overly tight. I have had a nice one or two but they were the exception. I also found the head in mouth thing quite alarming LOL. Mr. CIGAR-give-Head is a great guy and I am glad you two have hit it off so well.;-)

[CIGARHead]

Great in-depth review Charles. You sure you havent written a review before? This puts most to shame!

Now this....the only person I have ever heard talk like that is Mel, but good on ya!

» Put the head in my mouth (now there’s a sentence I wouldn’t have imagined

» typing a couple years ago), and got a faint nutty taste.

Glad you enjoyed the Mag 46. These guys are right about them being hit or miss. This cab I have is from 2005 and are just starting to come into there own.

[CIGARHead]

» » Great review! Keep them coming. I recently smoked a couple of 05

» Mag45's

» » that were off the hook good, but I am always leary of buying a box

» because

» » I read so many negative reviews of these.

»

» I have NOT had good luck with this cigar with to many being overly tight.

» I have had a nice one or two but they were the exception. I also found the

» head in mouth thing quite alarming LOL. Mr. CIGAR-give-Head is a

» great guy and I am glad you two have hit it off so well.;-)

Mel, see above a@@hole!;-)

[Colt45]

» the

» » head in mouth thing quite alarming LOL. Mr. CIGAR-give-Head is a

» » great guy and I am glad you two have hit it off so well.;-)

»

» Mel, see above a@@hole!;-)

Uh, maybe it's just me, but you two are beginning to sound like RA & KG.........

(and no, that's not really meant as a compliment)

[MaltPointer]

» Great in-depth review Charles. You sure you havent written a review before?

» This puts most to shame!

»

» Now this....the only person I have ever heard talk like that is Mel, but

» good on ya!

»

» » Put the head in my mouth (now there’s a sentence I wouldn’t have

» imagined

» » typing a couple years ago), and got a faint nutty taste.

»

» Glad you enjoyed the Mag 46. These guys are right about them being hit or

» miss. This cab I have is from 2005 and are just starting to come into

» there own.

all I can say is "Thank GOD I haven't fallen in with a bunch of perverts!"

[Chicago]

This is an awesome review. To think that my little boy is all grown up now, after only 2 or 3 months of smoking! Great job, Charles.

[MaltPointer]

» This is an awesome review. To think that my little boy is all grown up now,

» after only 2 or 3 months of smoking! Great job, Charles.

Thanks, Mike. When I'm done with Austin's gift, I'll start in on some of the sticks you fronted me. I'm thinkin' the Partagas 4 would be a good kickoff.

[Colt45]

» all I can say is "Thank GOD I haven't fallen in with a bunch of

» perverts!"

»

»

You know how in prison when you take cigarettes from a guy...........

[greenpimp]

» » all I can say is "Thank GOD I haven't fallen in with a bunch of

» » perverts!"

» »

» »

»

» You know how in prison when you take cigarettes from a guy...........

Now dats funny right der!

[CIGARHead]

» » all I can say is "Thank GOD I haven't fallen in with a bunch of

» » perverts!"

» »

» »

»

» You know how in prison when you take cigarettes from a guy...........

This thread has just been flushed down the shitter!

[Kingantz]

» slightly funky, but in a sweet way.

» a barnyard strewn with the occasional clump of lavender. ...prune or a fig...earthy, sweet, comfortable.

» faint nutty taste

» faint hit of nuts (almonds?), “clean tobacco”

» Clean toasted tobacco

» Roasted nuts (almonds?)

» Strong hit of coffee with cream in it

» “pepper in the nose”

» faint and occasional floral note of lavender

» slightly burnt popcorn, i.e., that taste you get when you bite into a piece of popcorn that got nuked a little too hard in the microwave.

» hint of mint

» creamy, rich, dark roasted coffee

» peppery

» chicken pot pie - the taste of the pie crust of a chicken pot pie slightly buttery, baked taste . . . in a savory, non-dessert context.

» slightly bitter notes

An excellent review with a great description of flavors! I found myself digging deep to imagine the experience with the story you told. Sounds like it was a great smoke indeed. Although, I may have skipped the head in the mouth part. Sorry, you have to know I just couldn't let that slip by.

Looking forward to the Cohiba, especially as I've yet to smoke one of them. Very interested to hear your experience with it.

Great job Charles!!

[MaltPointer]

» » slightly funky, but in a sweet way.

» » a barnyard strewn with the occasional clump of lavender. ...prune or a

» fig...earthy, sweet, comfortable.

» » faint nutty taste

» » faint hit of nuts (almonds?), “clean tobacco”

» » Clean toasted tobacco

» » Roasted nuts (almonds?)

» » Strong hit of coffee with cream in it

» » “pepper in the nose”

» » faint and occasional floral note of lavender

» » slightly burnt popcorn, i.e., that taste you get when you bite into a

» piece of popcorn that got nuked a little too hard in the microwave.

» » hint of mint

» » creamy, rich, dark roasted coffee

» » peppery

» » chicken pot pie - the taste of the pie crust of a chicken pot pie

» slightly buttery, baked taste . . . in a savory, non-dessert context.

» » slightly bitter notes

»

» An excellent review with a great description of flavors! I found myself

» digging deep to imagine the experience with the story you told. Sounds

» like it was a great smoke indeed. Although, I may have skipped the head

» in the mouth part. Sorry, you have to know I just couldn't let

» that slip by.

»

» Looking forward to the Cohiba, especially as I've yet to smoke one of

» them. Very interested to hear your experience with it.

»

» Great job Charles!!

Thanks, Kingantz, for the kind words. And I'm starting to feel like it was my foot I put in my mouth. :-D Sheesh . . . for my next trick, potty jokes!!!

Be well . . . and I'll light that Cohiba sometime this week, depending on travel plans.

[El Presidente]

» Put the head in my mouth (now there’s a sentence I wouldn’t have imagined

» typing a couple years ago), and got a faint nutty taste

Thank God you put "Nutty" if you had put "something salty....familiar"

Fantastic Review :ok: :ok:

I can't count the number of times that I have received an e-mail telling me that they cannot get the flavours I describe in a review. I always reply that

1. Ken has made a career out of it.

and

2. Have a pen and paper handy. It is remarkable what you will ponder over as you jot down thoughts on flavours.

This is not an exact science and it is richer for not being so :-)

[MaltPointer]

» Fantastic Review :ok: :ok:

»

Thanks, Rob!