Pre-light Experience

The wrapper on the H. Upmann 175th Anniversary is medium brown but has some color variance. There is a large raised vein running down the back side of the cigar. The seams are smooth but visible due to the color variation while the head is finished off with a well applied set of caps. The primary band is gold and brown and designates the brand and line with a cream section underneath which denotes the blender. The foot band is also a cap and is brown and gold and denotes the blender and Grupo de Maestros. The aroma from the wrapper brings smoky wood, reminiscent of some pipe tobacco. The foot brings wood, tobacco sweetness and some black pepper. The pre-light draw consists of wood and sweet tobacco.

First Third

The cigar begins with dark oak, black pepper, mustiness and an underlying subtle sweetness. At a half inch in, the oak isn’t as dark and the black pepper has become even with it. The mustiness is slightly behind and the subtle sweetness has left the profile. The retrohale starts out with a black pepper zing and finishes with mustiness. At an inch and a half, the oak, pepper and mustiness are all even. The retrohale now exhibits the same combination. At two and a half inches in, the oak and mustiness have a slight lead over the black pepper. As the third comes to a close, the pepper is pretty light. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Second Third

As the second third begins, the pepper picks up some, but is still a background note. At a half inch in, the oak becomes a bit dry and the pepper is fairly light again. The retrohale is just musty oak. At an inch in, the black pepper is completely gone. At an inch and a half, the oak is a bit more dry and creates an overall drying profile. As the third comes to a close, some wood bitterness joins the profile. The strength in this third dropped down to medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the wood bitterness has subsided. At a half inch in, the profile remains just musty oak. At three quarters of an inch in, the cigar warms up bringing a vegetal note to the profile. The retrohale is musty oak with a slight vegetal note. At an inch and a quarter, the vegetal note is even with the musty oak. As the cigar comes to a close, the musty oak and vegetal note remain even as well as on the retrohale. The strength in this third is a bit sneaky as I’m feeling the effect from the nicotine from the whole of the cigar.

Burn

The burn was a bit wavy throughout. The cigar did go out once in the final third requiring a re-light. The ash held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Draw

The draw was slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

The cigar began with dark oak, black pepper, mustiness and an underlying subtle sweetness. The sweetness left as the oak wasn’t as dark and the pepper mellowed. The second third saw the pepper drop out and the wood became a bit drying. The final third saw a vegetal note join in. Construction was pretty good and strength was right around medium until the final third when the nicotine from the entirety of the cigar started to effect me in the final third. Overall, the H. Upmann 175th Anniversary was average throughout. I was looking forward to this specially fermented wrapper, but it was run over by the typical AJ Fernandez flavor profile which was disappointing. The flavor profile and price will likely steer me away from revisiting. I’d love to see this wrapper used by another blender just to see what it could do.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.40

Cost/Point

$3.33

Scoring System

Personal Cigar Review: H. Upmann 175th Anniversary