My toughts on Partagas D4

First, I’d like to inform that there is a justification for this huge hiatus without any reviews: the justification arrived on January 25, at 0:55 am, weighing 2.7 kilos and goes by the name of Manuela.

Thank you all for the welcome messages for my daughter. That’s what makes the journey worthwhile. Any day I’ll tell you a little more about this new journey, but not today. Let’s get into the subject.

Well…

What cigar best synthesizes what a good Cuban can provide than the Partagas D4? The shape, aromas, construction, and the draw are a summary of what a good Cuban cigar should be: versatile.

I believe that the Partagas D4 is one of the cigars I am most familiar with. It was one of the first Cubans I had contact with and since then I always have some in my humidor.

According to the Habanos classification for cigar strength, Partagas has a strong strength scale, the highest among the five possible (mild, mild to medium, medium, medium to strong and strong), which can lead the unsuspecting to think that it really is a full bodied cigar. It isn’t.

But the fact that the D4 does not respect – in my view – the strength scale proposed by the manufacturer itself does not make it a bad cigar: it is great, within its own universe and not in that one proposed by Habanos.

The robusto format (50 X 124 mm) provides a smoke of up to 1 hour and a half depending on the mood of the smoker, which makes it a good company for that after lunch on Sunday.

The D4s were introduced in the 1930s and were primarily exported to the British market, and at the time of their release, the cigar measured 50 X 123 mm. Its production was discontinued in 1960 and was reintroduced in 1975, when the robusto shape began to gain more popularity in the market. With its relaunch, it gained a millimeter in length and now has the current 50 X 124mm.

As said before, D4 is not on the strong fortress scale these days, it seems more appropriate to fit it in the medium strength scale or, at most, medium to strong.

I believe that this cigar is getting smoother over the years so it can be more and more accepted by the market. This was already noticed by Min Ron Nee in 1995, a year in which Partagas cigars became smoother.

I was not fortunate enough to taste Partagás cigars from that time to be able to judge but what I can say is that even today we can feel this cigar become smoother over the years.

An example of this are the boxes dated from 2018. These boxes clearly have a stronger body than the 2019’s boxes.

We can also see that, over the years, the specific reviews about the strength of this cigar by Cigar Aficionado magazine follow the pattern of getting smoother, let’s see it:

Perhaps this is why the Partagas D4 is the best-selling Cuban cigar in the world today: its constant adaptation to the market.

Although we can notice this change in the fortress, the same cannot be said about the aromas. These are still outstanding: coffee, cedar, leather, and walnuts.

Its aromatic profile has already been compared to another very famous cigar of the same brand by Gérard Père et Fils and Min Ron Nee: the Lusitânias. Min Ron Nee even considers it a “short Lusitania”. Well, the books consulted date from 1992 and 2003, so it may have made sense at the time. For today’s standards it doesn’t make sense because the Lusitânias has a completely different aromatic profile than the D4.

Now the reason for its versatility mentioned at the beginning: its strength – although far from the Habanos’ proposal -, added to the aromatic profile, gives the smoker a huge possibility of combining spirits (rum, cognac, whiskey), drinks (mojito, negroni), wines (port, sauternes), coffee and even sparkling water. All goes well with the Partagas D4.

I believe that this cigar should be aged for at least 5 years so it can deliver its best, and a period of 8-10 years would be ideal.

Cheers!

Info:

Cigar: Partagas D4

Country: Cuba

Wrapper/binder/filler: Cuba

Size: 50 ring by 124mm long

Format: Parejo

Box date: 3 (2019) and 4 years (2018)

Smoking time: 1 hour

Price: 25ct box (March/2022): BRL 2,500.00

Score: 94 (2019 box) and 93 (2018 box). By having a stronger body, I believe that the 2018 box has a greater aging potential, which will stand out in a few years, possibly surpassing the 2019 box, which is more “ready” to smoke.