Cigar retailers and online vendors across America have frequently been asked this question for many years— What’s Just as good as a Cuban Partagas Cigar? This query comes up so often because this legendary brand that can easily be found in cigar stores throughout Europe and Central America hasn’t been legally sold here in the United States since the Cuban Embargo took affect way back in 1962.
Before we answer this million-dollar question— What’s Just as good as a Cuban Partagas Cigar?
Let’s take a close-up look at the original Cuban Partagas cigar and why it’s considered so special.
Founded in 1845, the original Cuban Partagas cigars are among the oldest brands of cigars still in existence. A Cuban Partagas cigar is immediately recognizable by its deep reddish hue wrapper, incredibly firm construction, and a triple cap that is flat at the top. After lighting, flavors of earth, nuts, white pepper, and spice are delivered with a full-bodied strength profile that provides an amazingly creamy smooth texture on the palate. The character of its blend springs from a selection of 100% Cuban wrapper, binder, and filler tobaccos grown in the famous Vuelta Abajo region of the country that has been carefully chosen for their unmistakable richness of flavor and unique sweet-smelling aroma. Know, with that said, let’s discuss three comparable brands that you can buy right here in the states.
Partagas 1845
The first choice would logically be the Partagas 1845 cigar. This line extension to the original Partagas cigar is steeped in Cuban tradition and offers the aficionado a premium handmade Dominican smoke with a surprisingly similar taste to its legendary Cuban counterpart. Cloaked in a shiny Ecuador Sumatra wrapper leaf and filled with a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers, the medium to full bodied Partagas 1845 cigar coats the palate with scrumptious layers of creamy sweet tobacco met with hints of toast, cocoa, and spice.
Buy Now Cohiba Dominican
Another Cuban heritage brand that found a home in the Dominican Republic, the Cohiba cigar will more than suffice for those not able to procure a genuine Cuban Partagas cigar. The Cohiba Dominican cigar is rolled with aged, Dominican Piloto Cubano long-fillers, encased in a savory Indonesian binder, and finished by a rich, toothy African Cameroon wrapper. Although not quite as bold as the Cuban Partagas, it’s a medium body blend that serves up rich and rewarding nuances of spice, sweet cocoa, espresso, and creamy caramel flavors.
Buy Now Don Pepin Garcia Blue
Moving up the ladder strength-wise, premium handmade Don Pepin Garcia Blue cigars really give the Cuban Partagas cigars are a serious run for the money. Handcrafted with 100% Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos, a flavorful binder, and a dark and oily Corojo wrapper, this is a robust smoke with zesty, peppery flavors accented with notes of cedar, dark roast coffee, and baking spices. Just like the Cuban Partagas cigar its full bodied, yet incredibly smooth.
Buy Now AJ Fernandez San Lotano Habano
A third and very good alternative to the elusive Cuban Partagas cigar is the AJ Fernandez San Lotano Habano cigar— a masterpiece of construction and flavor coming from one of the hottest names in the thriving boutique cigar industry. This enormously popular Cuban-esque cigar is fashioned with a blend of aged long-fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. Most importantly though, the San Lotano Habano cigar gets its name from the rare, Brazilian Habano wrapper which is only obtainable by AJ Fernandez and one other manufacturer in the entire world. This exquisite top leaf perfectly emulates the peppery top-notes found on the Cuban Partagas cigar. The rest of the full-bodied flavor profile provides similar nuances of nuts, earth, and sweet tobacco.
Buy Now In summary, if you can get your hands on the original Cuban Partagas cigar you are truly in for one heckuva’ treat, if not, the three luxury brands mentioned above offer a very comparable smoke, and are readily available right here at JR.
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