Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Mexico
Filler: Dominican/Mexican

I reached into my humidor and pulled out a staple cigar. The Partagas #8 Maduro has been a part of my collection for as long as I can remember. It’s not flashy in its appearance and tends to blend in to its surroundings and go unnoticed but whenever I need a cigar that I’m familiar with, this is the one I reach for. The Partagas #8 is one of the foundations that sparked my interest in cigars. It also made for a great companion while watching the De La Hoya fight this past weekend.

The Partagas #8 Maduro is a classic maduro. Sure there are many other maduro cigars out there that pack a bigger punch like CAO Brazilia, Partagas Black Label, La Gloria Cubana Serie R or the Hoyo Dark Sumatra just to name a few. But if you’re looking for a go to cigar, with consistency throughout, then the Partagas #8 is the way to go.

I took a detour from my usual cutting technique since I sent my Xikar away to get it sharpened. So I turned to a new purchase of mine that had been sitting in its box and somehow I have resisted the urge to open. On the advice of Bob & Dale from the Dog Watch Social Club podcast, I purchased a Palio cigar cutter. I’m sure I’ll do a review of the Palio cutter soon but if every cut is like the first cut, all of us BOTL will be asking Xikar who?

Back to the Partagas #8 ¦ I toasted the foot and I was off. The initial flavors start the fight. You’re greeted with a solid one two combination of spicy and peppery flavors. The flavors stick with you even in between rounds while the stick is resting.

The Partagas #8 looked to be in good shape. The wrapper stayed in tact all throughout the smoke. Burn rate was at a good and even pace and didn’t require any relighting. The weakness of the Partagas #8 has been mentioned many times before. The draw doesn’t completely suck, but it is a tough draw that doesn’t give way at any point. The flavorful characteristics make it easy for me to look past the tough draw and continue the fight.

Towards the end of the smoke the Partagas #8 switched up tactics on me. In place of the peppery and spicy notes that you experience for most of the smoke, you finish on a slightly sweet and syrup notes to give you a smooth clean finish.

I called the Partagas #8 a classic maduro. It’s not the hardest hitter in its weight class but brings to the ring a consistent list of attributes and qualities that are hard to pass up. You get a solid 12 rounds out of the Partagas #8 and end with a clean finish that all the judges at ringside will score as a unanimous hit.

My Rating Sheet – 81/100