Fri 3 Mar 2006
While still curious about the European attitude for non-Cuban cigars I decided to look around and find out which non-Cubans, if any, receive high marks by serous French cigar clubs. I did my homework and found a number of cigars that were crowned in as the best of non-Habanos for 2005.
In what I am calling “France’s Best Cigars of 2005” Part I, I’d like to present their 2005 winners from the Dominican Republic.
The runner-up is the Davidoff Millennium Blend Pyramid (torpedo), awarded three stars out of a possible of six! Oh boy, I said to myself… and continued on to see how they described this 15 dollar second place winner. For the strong points they said: “looks good, well made, good draw”, whereas for the weak points: “linear throughout and bitter last third”.
Right off the bat I couldn’t help but think, if this is the second place winner from the Dominican Republic, I can imagine what they must think of the cigars that didn’t win. In all fairness, though, I should mention that they did appreciate a refreshing acidity of the first two thirds and a curious note of cacao once the cigar warmed up. Overall, they gave this one a score of one out of a possible of four in terms of its aroma. At any rate, let’s all give a big round of applause to the French 2005 runner-up!
Alright, now we move on to the 2005 winner. From the Dominican Republic, and rated a whopping six stars out of a possible of six, a petit corona that no one has ever heard of, is the Pleiades Esprit Nomade Special (petit)-Corona! This cigar did very well on all accounts: the construction, the taste, the aroma and the progression. Overall, they called this petit-corona a true pleasure.
Now, all humor aside… I should say that I really don’t mean to pick on the French for the nature of their choices. I have no doubt that, given the reputation of the more than fifteen participating entities, the reviewers had unparalleled expertise as well as a fine sense of taste, judgment, and devotion to cigars. I for one don’t like to criticize reviews based on personal tastes… but, with these winners, I can’t help but honestly wonder if they have ever even heard of a man named Arturo Fuente.
March 4th, 2006 at 3:23 am
I can’t wait for Part II. I have a Pleades in my humi at the moment. I may just have to fire it up and sing La Marseillaise… though the last Pleades I had was fine, I’d stop somewhere short of “a true pleasure.” Maybe “a quality mild smoke.” Six out of six! The Fuentes are running for cover — that’s why the French can’t find them! They’re hiding out on the Las Vegas strip selling cigars at contraband prices. They would be invisible were it not for the trail of dollars they leave behind them.