Origin : Cuba
Factory Name : Petit Corona (Minutos)
Size : 110 x 16.67 mm
Ring : 42
Weight : 7.46 g
Hand-Made
Box code : OCT 2007
Price : ~$6-8 each

Partagas Shorts is an interesting small vitola, another good fit for cold winter months. Although the factory name is minuto, don’t expect to finish it in less than half an hour – if you take it slowly as I’d recommend you will need around 40 minutes to fully enjoy one. Behind an unobtrusive appearance hides a surprisingly rich flavor profile.

Appearance : Rating:
The Shorts sport a typical Partagas-color wrapper with rare imperfections. The cigar itself is very hard to the touch and box-pressed. It has a very faint tobacco smell. The pre-draw is on the tighter side, mostly woody.

Construction : Rating:
The cigar allows a clean cut and is easy to light with just one wooden match (I usually use two on bigger sizes). Although the draw is, as I expected given the very hard physical aspect, quite tight, the amount of produced smoke is satisfying. The burn is very slow and self-correcting, requiring no touch-ups.

Flavor : Rating:
The beginning is very tonic, I feel a lot of spice coupled with wood. The power is in the background. The first third contains more spice than necessary, I attenuated it by pairing the cigar with a sweet latte – the mix is delicious. In the second third, one might find vanilla, honey and chocolate flavors – regrettably, they are hard to make out as the main flavors, spice and wood, are really strong. As the second third arrives to its end, the woody notes become a bit dry and a risk of harshness is present. The power is perceptible. Spice returns in the last third, making it more balanced.
I noticed that (as it is often the case) the flavor is very different depending on the age of cigars. In the “Overall” section I posted my thoughts on aging process for Partagas Shorts – scroll down.

Value : Rating:
They can be found at $5 per stick if bought in cabinets of 50. Try a few and if you are satisfied it might be an interesting solution.

Overall Rating : Rating:
Overall, it’s a decent cigar. It needs to be properly aged however to be fully enjoyed – what I suggest is to try one from the box every 2-3 weeks and as soon as the excessive spice/wood mellow out and you are able to find delicious honey, chocolate (and even nutty) flavors, work on the box before it’s too late.