The Partagas brand has been around for over 150 years, so Anejo (aged) means something a bit different to them, one might expect. The team that now handles blending has marked Partagas as focused on Cameroon tobacco's possibilities. Not a bad choice, given that Cameroon-wrapped cigars like the Don Carlos Eye of the Shark from the Fuente cigar company have won Cigar Aficionado Cigar of the Year and earned stellar ratings in recent reviews.
But Partagas doesn’t want modern Cameroon. No. They have a refined taste for things and wait for the leaf to develop full flavor by aging extensively.
The company says, “With Partagas Añejo, we have taken the brand’s long-term association with aged Cameroon wrappers to a new level.” The wrapper on Partagas Anejo cigars was grown in 1998! The crop is over twenty years old at this point! Holy moly, that’s a long time to wait for some tobacco to reach the proper point of flavor and development. Then again, when you’re a company this mature, you can wait a decade or two for a blend to come together.
The flavor profile is a bit of a throwback, and that’s no surprise. It’s not just the main wrapper that has been developing for years and years. This is the first barber pole wrapper cigar from Partagas, which means the accent leaf is used to create a swirling pattern. In this case, 2013 Connecticut shade tobacco was chosen, which takes the blend in another interesting direction. This is all rolled around a Dominican binder with long fillers from the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Toasting up a Partagas Anejo cigar will bring you back in time to a different set of aromas and tastes you might not have had in a while. It’s herbal, with notes of white pepper, hay, and a finish like cinnamon oatmeal. It’s warm and homey but has a noted exotic twist in the mix. Cameroon tobacco, even when thoroughly tamed over time, retains its core character of fragrant wood. You know you’re smoking Cameroon as soon as you taste it. For fans of the flavor, you’re getting a whole new experience due to the decades that have passed in maturation since harvesting.
This is a reasonably unique cigar. If it’s got you curious, grab one to experience a smoke, unlike the rest from a company that’s forgotten more than most know about the tobacco game.
Please browse our selection of Partagas Anejo cigars at your leisure.
