Smoked: H Upmann 1844 Special Edition Barbier Toro

Smoked at: West Chester, Ohio

H Upmann 1844 Special Edition Barbier Toro is made Dominican, Broadleaf and Nicaraguan filler, an Indonesian binder and a barber pole of Ecuadoran Connecticut and Sumatra dry wrapper. It does show a few veins. The primary band is red with a gold outline. The secondary band is gold with the word “Barbier.”

Flavors: light wood, leather, mild pepper, cashews, cocoa, sweet cream like icing on a cake. There is almost a creamy cake taste in there as well. Could Upmann have slipped a Twinkie into the filler? Background buttery and spicy notes take hold during the second third. A few puffs of coffee and vegetal & herbal notes make a token appearance during the final third. The retrohale is cedar, floral and peppery. It’s medium bodied and strength start to finish.

Snug draw that opened up after a few minutes, at which point – volumes of smoke, burn line erratic – it went really haywire during the final third when the cigar needed to be relit a couple of times. The light grey ash was somewhat flaky, although it held to almost an inch at one point.

H Upmann Special Edition Barbier is a tasty satisfying smoke. I am impressed enough with this cigar to give it a 4 – couldn’t quite throw the switch on a 5 with the construction issues. All in all, the Special Edition Barbier is one of the better Upmanns I’ve smoked this year.