The Habanos showcase has cigars for all tastes and the Cuban Master Tobacconists try to find in their blends those nuances that remain over time in each of their brands, but what stands out among all of them are the Special Editions that are launched on the market from time to time.
Limited Editions, Reservas and Gran Reservas are usually the reasons why those series are so much appreciated and sought-after by aficionados, but no less so are the Exclusive Regional Editions for the different areas of the world where Habanos are distributed, which are still the most consumed Premium cigars worldwide (except for the United States, where legal restrictions prevent them from being imported), though that doesn’t stop them from being appreciated and smoked as well.
Ever since the International Habano Festival began to be held in the year 2000, every February the limited editions that will be put on the market for that year are presented at the Festival until the pandemic hit and they were somehow interrupted, but last year the 2019 ones continued to arrive, such as the Montecristo Supremos Ed. Lim.
Montecristo Supremos Ed. Limitada 2019 is a medium-strength Habano that envelops us with its aromas of dried fruits, vanilla and leaves traces of cocoa, in a galley vitola called Montesco.
The truth is that by the time the Ediciones Limitadas reach us, there has already been a long process of selection, care and aging of the tobaccos that compose them, since it is the master tobacconists who choose in each harvest those leaves that deserve to be treated with greater diligence to ensure those special lines of cigars.
But since 2005 also come to different parts of the world the exclusive Regional Editions for that area (and of course in limited number) as those that in recent years we received in the cigars cellars of Spain and not to go back too far we will remember the Rey del Mundo Petit Robustos (102 x 50) of 2015, La Gloria Cubana D No. 5. (110 x 50) from 2017 and La Flor de Cano Mágicos (115 x 52) from 2018, which has been (and still can be if we find them in some tobacconists) a great success and a huge success among aficionados.
Precisely this year, and from the beginning of March, the Diplomáticos Colección Privada II in Exclusive Edition for Spain have arrived in the cellars of Spanish tobacconists, which we will only find them in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands.
This is a fairly modern format, 135 millimeters long and with a 52 filler (20.62 mm in diameter), which in galera is called Edmundo and is part of a brand that is not usually distributed in Spain; it is produced in the Montecristo factory, and has a softer line in strength.
We also have the chance to taste the Punch 48, a Special Edition for Habano Houses around the world, which in Spanish territory can be found in tobacconists catalogued as Especialistas, and which is a 140-millimeter-long cigar with a 48 filler gauge (Hermoso No. 3 galera vitola).
Of course, it is a wide range of Cuban cigars that finding them in the cigar cellars is not only a spectacular find, but will provide us with sublime moments when we can taste them.
DIPLOMÁTICOS COLECCIÓN PRIVADA II (Ed. Reg. España 2022)
FORMAT: Length: 135 mm., Diameter: 20,64 mm., Strain: 52, Weight: 14,58 gr.
CIGAR: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río, Cuba)
BEFORE LIGHTING: Color: red. Aroma: vegetable
COMBUSTION: First third: soft beginnings and spicy traces with wood. Second third: very light spicy notes well combined with sweet touches. Third third: well balanced aromas and flavors with a certain strength of the latter.
Smoking time: 60/65 minutes
SHOT: Excellent
ASH: Consistent light gray
COMMENT: This cigar, which comes from the same cigar rollers that make Montecristo cigars, has a medium strength, with an exquisite range of flavors that evolve as the combustion progresses without any aggressive edges in the mouth and with a splendid balance of flavors and aromas.
PUNCH 48
FORMAT: Length: 140 mm., Diameter: 19,05 mm., Strain: 48, Weight: 12,54 gr.
CIGAR: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río, Cuba)
BEFORE LIGHTING: Color: red. Aroma: twisted galley
COMBUSTION: First third: the aromas almost overpower the flavors, although the spices are already present. Second third: greater incidence in the papillae of tobacco traces with clear woody notes in the foreground. Third third: splendid balance of flavors and aromas.
Smoking time: 50/55 minutes
SHOT: Excellent
ASH: Midtone gray
COMMENT: This vitola called Hermoso No. 3 in galley is perfectly suited to the tastes of aficionados who prefer less strong flavors (three out of five) and a good accompaniment of spicy touches combined with wood.
MONTECRISTO SUPREMOS ED. LIM. 2019
FORMAT: Length: 130 mm., Diameter: 21.83 mm., Strain: 55, Weight: 16,62 gr.
CIGAR: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río, Cuba)
BEFORE LIGHTING: Color: light ripe. Aroma: intense tobacco
COMBUSTION: First third: strength and character from the beginning. Second third: spicy and earthy notes advance with the combustion. Third third: powerful flavors in good balance with the aromas.
Smoking time: 55/60 minutes
SHOT: Excellent
ASH: Gray with darker stands
COMMENT: A great power of flavors and a magnificent balance with the aromas make this Montesco galley vitola a splendid representative of the brand’s bond, combining in it those years of special aging of the Limited Editions.
LA FLOR DE CANO MÁGICOS (Ed. Reg. España 2018)
FORMAT: Length: 115 mm., Diameter: 20,64 mm., Strain: 52, Weight: 15,18 gr.
CIGAR: Vuelta Abajo y Semi Vuelta (Pinar del Río, Cuba)
BEFORE LIGHTING: Color: red. Aroma: vegetable
COMBUSTION: First third: mild aspirations to start with a good presence of clear tobacco flavors. Second third: some notes of white pepper join spicy touches. Third third: the good balance of flavors and aromas continues with the contribution of woody tones.
Smoking time: 45/50 minutes
SHOT: Perfect
ASH: Consistent light gray
COMMENT: Medium strength (three out of five), its forms when smoked are smooth and with a great variety of nuances, with a good smoke density possibly due to its good weight, which allows prolonging its tasting beyond what its own format would seem to indicate.
