Por Larrañaga Petit Corona KVM NOV 04

Measures: 127 mm x 16,5 mm

Age: Christmas arrived early as I recently received these cigars with just a bit over one year of age.

Setting: Winter proper has not really come yet to Helsinki: there has been hardly any snow, and the pale December sun has shone from clear skies on several days. This is quite uncharacteristical: mostly we don't expect to really see the sun again before February. It is also a lot warmer (or less cold) than usual.

The prevailing darkness still reminds of the fact that it's mid-winter after all. Today, of course, at least if we believe the Swedish-speaking part of the Finnish population (and why don't we), the back of the darkness is broken by St. Lucia, who brings back the light by wearing a long white dress and a twig garland with lit white candles in her hair. This is called Luciadagen. So remembering that the Spring will come again after all I grabbed one of the PLPC's, ignoring the voice of reason saying that they need a longer rest before smoking, brewed some coffee and seated myself on the balcony with the cigar and warm clothing.

When opening the cabinet for the first time, I was surprised how dark and oily these cigars were. The wrapper felt almost like skin to my fingers: a few crystals of bloom reflected the light nicely. The cigar felt fairly resilient to my fingers, raising the suspicion that it is too humid or a tad underfilled. Nevertheless, after cutting the cigar, the draw appears to be quite all right.

My previous encounters with PL had come from the Panetelas, so knew something of what was supposed to happen after I had lit the cigar. Yet this experience - very favourable as it was - paled in comparison with the PC. The cigar was a flavour bomb. The flavour is unique: sweet caramel sitting on top of very pleasant tobacco taste that tingled the middle part of the palate. After the mid point the sweetness nevertheless receded a bit (but came intermittently back), and the cigar became somewhat sharper in profile, yet never becoming unpleasant or harsh. The cigar burned fairly well, needing a couple of corrections. I had to relight it twice.

Obviously this cigar was still too young to fully reveal what it has to offer. Nevertheless, I now understand why it has received quite enthusiastic support in the review I have read: the cigar went directly close to the top of my list of most favoured Habanos PC's. Do yourself a favour and get a cab: I am very glad that I followed this advice myself. The thought that there still are 49 of these beauties waiting their turn is a comforting one.

Romeo y Julieta Petit Piramide EL 2005

Measures: 124 mm x 20 mm

Age: I bought three of these new cigars in September. By the time of smoking, they had spent almost three months in my humidor.

Setting: This Sunday turned out to be a nearly perfect early winter day, with clear skies and temperature just below freezing. Thus we were able to enjoy sunshine for the whole day; very nice indeed after the stormy and rainy final weeks of November. This encouraged me to brave the cold and have a good cigar after lunch. I was already fingering a Partagás P2, when the three Petit Piramides I had got some months ago caught my eye. Why not indeed? The whole idea of buying a few was to try them out and determine if I should by a whole box.

The format of this cigar is unique: a short piramide it is, more than an inch shorter than the regular ones. In my eyes, the result is a cigar with attitude just like a small sports coupe is different from a big GT vehicle, as if the cigar was saying "let's go for a ride". The external characteristics of the cigar match what one might expect from a limited edition Habanos: dark, oily wrapper, very solid construction with a perfectly shaped cap. The cigar felt very densely packed to my fingers, having hardly any resilience. This made me worried about the draw, but it turned out to be ideally resistive. The pre-draw aroma reminded me of cocoa over lightly roasted tobacco. The cigar lighted easily and burned well, only requiring slight assistance at one-inch point.

The cigar started with a measured pang of floral aromas that soon settled to a more understated expression. During the first half of the cigar, I was reminded of the high-register herbal tones of the regular RyJ's; this cigar nevertheless had more body and depth. A modest amount of spice blended with the core tobacco in a nicely integrated manner. The aftertaste tingled nicely my nose and middle palate. Unfortunately, after the half-way mark these flavours became increasingly subdued: first, the herbs vanished, then the spice, until just the tobacco remained. At this point, the cigar lost the competition against the quite aromatic coffee I was drinking, and I abandoned it with more than one inch remaining.

Despite this low-key ending, the Petit Piramide yielded a very pleasant smoking session of little more than one hour, time-wise perfect for the less than ideal circumstances. I was glad that I took the chance with this cigar, unplanned as its choice was. All in all, I found myself thinking that the cigar probably was still at an early stage of its evolution, and that its aromas still were masked and muted even during the first half. How far will it go? My limited experience does not suffice to answering this question.

Will I buy a box? Based on this experience, no; I may change my mind after I have tried the other two after a good further rest. At any rate, of the two EL's of 2005, my vote as for now goes to the Montecristo D that I have found to be good literally down to the last millimeters.

Juan Lopez Selección No. 1 CUE AGO 03

Measures: 140 mm x 17,5 mm
Age: The box dates from August 2003. It had spent a month in my humidor.

The winter has now begun in Helsinki, with temperatures around freezing. Unfortunately, we have had practically no snow yet except for one glorious weekend. It is sorely missed: snow on the ground will make the darkness much more bearable, as it reflects the little light we have this time of the year (sunrise at 9, sunset at 3.20). Within these parameters, it was nevertheless a nice cool and clear early winter day, so I went to downtown for some Christmas shopping. To reward myself for this, I also took one of the recently bought Juan Lopez Corona Gordas along in a cigar tube that proved extremely handy for the purpose. After exhausting my gift ideas (and myself), I went to the very cigar-friendly Strindberg's restaurant to enjoy a well-earned moment of respite with their quite excellent latte and the cigar. (The place is a must visit for cigar smokers in Helsinki: the upstairs area is well equipped in private club style with bookshelves and comfy chairs, and of course they have all drinks one may desire with a good cigar.)


The first thing that struck me as I originally opened the cabinet and inspected the cigars was the colour of the wrapper: these are amongst the darkest Habanos that I have so far seen. Tiny particles of bloom reflected light nicely all over the surface of the chosen sample. The cigar gave the impression of a very solid and high quality workmanship, with a expertly made triple cap. It felt firm, with just a little resilience, and emitted a strong barnyard odour. I clipped the cigar effortlessly and tried the draw which proved to be just perfectly resistive and gave hints of honey over pure tobacco flavour. The cigar lighted easily, and burned perfectly through the entire smoking session.

The story of this cigar is a story of flavour: it is certainly not a power-horse, and may not appeal to smokers who prefer stronger cigars. Initially I sensed nice nuttiness over light pure tobacco; later this was replaced by a sweetish flavour that reminded me of coughing medicine that I had as a child: camphor and honey? This was on top of very nice and balanced tobacco taste, the bitterness of which blended quite nicely with the overtone. The intensiveness of the tobacco increased gradually towards the end, never becoming harsh or overpowering.

All in all, the cigar gave me a very pleasant 90 minutes rest in style, smoking and sitting comfortably in the lobby of the restaurant, browsing a book I had just bought from the Academic Bookstore next door, sipping my coffee, and watching other people (well, mainly ladies) coming in from the cold with full shopping bags. I felt at ease with myself and the world. The moment and the cigar proved a perfect pairing.