Cigar Review: Partagas Black Label Bravo

This month Tex Cigars sent me a couple Partagas Black Label Bravos to try out. The first thing I noticed when they arrived is how dark they are. These sticks look like an extra fat dark chocolate Twix bar. I couldn’t wait to have one but wanted to make sure I had a solid meal before taking this one on. Sorry about the pictures, I will get my better camera back some day and when that time comes I will update them.

Quote from Cigar World:

The History:
While Jaime Partagas founded the cigar brand that bears his name, most of the history of Partagas was written by Ramón Cifuentes and his father before him. It was they who made Partagas the leading Cuban cigar before Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government in 1959. Almost 20 years after Ramón Cifuentes was forced to flee Cuba, he was finally able to begin making his Partagas cigars again in 1978, this time in the Dominican Republic. And it was there as well as in the fertile Connecticut River Valley that he began to train a young man named Daniel Nuñez to become his eventual successor. Now the cigar master of Partagas, Daniel Nuñez is the creator of Partagas Black Label and many other innovations.
 
The Cigar:
In order to create Partagas Black Label, Daniel Nuñez and his colleagues spent 10 years perfecting the Medio Tempo wrapper and the La Vega Especial binder. Cuban-seed Medio Tempo wrappers are darker, heavier and richer than other wrappers because they are harvested only after they have been allowed to age on their plants 50% longer than other wrapper leaves. The La Vega Especial binder is sun-grown in the Dominican Republic to give it a deep, rich flavor of its own. To enhance the cigar’s full-bodied character even further, the blend is a mixture of Nicaraguan Ligero and Dominican Piloto Cubano Ligero. These tobaccos and a larger ring gauge translate into a richer, fuller-bodied flavor.

Country: Dominican Republic
Length/Ring: 4 1/2 x 54
Shape: Rothschild
Wrapper: Medio Tiempo (Connecticut)
Filler: Nicaraguan Ligero and Piloto Cubano Ligero Blend
Binder: La Vega Especial (Dominican Republic)
Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
Strength: Full

Pre-light: As I said above this is a dark, oily cigar with a little color variation in the wrapper. It looks evil but like most sins so tempting. The cigar I’m looking at now has a scuffed up band that I did not notice on the others. It looks like if they stained the cigar they dripped some on the band. The camera I have with me will not take very good pictures so you will have to visualize. The cigar in general is bumpy with a lot of veins that go with the “evil” look. The cap is okay and is hard to pick out being such a dark cigar. It has a deep tobacco smell and sweet pre-draw. I have had no issue with cutting the cap or the light.

The burn: I have read other reviews that say how good the burn is on these and I’m just not seeing it. Out of the three I have had not one had a “perfect” burn, they go back and forth from good to OK with a couple runs. Being summer time here in Ohio on the river we get high humidity(90+) so my humidor has been at 70% (I like it at 65% or even a little lower). This could most definitely be the reason I’m not seeing a great burn (not bad but not great). These cigars might like that lower humidity. The draw is firm and you get plenty of smoke after the first quarter. The ash from the wrapper seems to flake out a little from the binder and filler.

The taste: Semi sweet chocolate and pepper is a definite to me. This is the first cigar that flavors stood out to me with no question. The pepper is the good freshly ground pepper not any spice on the tongue. I have not got any harshness and the only bitterness I have got was from the first couple puffs.

Over all: Even though the ash and burn was not the best every cigar smoker should try these and make their own mind. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the flavor. I have some more of these and I will wait until my humidor settles down a little.

What others think of this cigar:

• Patrick at The Stogie Guys likes this cigar.
• ColbyPants ran into trouble with this smoke and does not recommend it.
• Users at Top25 gives this a 7.46 out of 10.