Quai D'Orsay No. 54

Overall Score

2 reviews for Quai D’Orsay No. 54

  1. Avatar photo

    L**** H****

    Quai d'Orsay No. 54

    Quai d’Orsay is the name of a part of a district in France. And that might sound strange as a name for a Cuban cigar. But in fact, this cigar was blended and made for the French cigar aficionados. Habanos made it for the refined taste of the French and gave it a French name to boot. The brand was released in 1974.



    After dropping numbers since the late 1980s, the brand almost faded away into oblivion. In 2015, only one vitola remained in regular production, the Coronas Claro. But then Habanos decided to revive the brand with two new vitolas and a brand new, updated, packaging. And late December, the company released the Quai d’Orsay 50 and 54, not just for France but open to every Habanos distributor who wants them.

    Name: Quai d’Orsay 54
    Country: Cuba
    Factory:
    Size: 5.3×54
    Vitola: Edmundo Grosso
    Wrapper: Cuba
    Binder: Cuba
    Filler: Cuba
    Price: € 9,90
    Cutter: Xikar X2
    Lighter: single flame
    Smoke conditions: indoors with ventilator
    Smoke time: One hour and fifty-five minutes.

    
The wrapper is pale and almost yellow. It’s not as pale as Connecticut Shade, but it is definitely a lighter shade wrapper. The wrapper looks and feels dry, far from oily, and contains a few water spots. The triple cap is beautiful, and the wrapper is smooth. The ring is gorgeous, a 21st century look with shiny gold but with the same orange and font as the original ring. The designer paid homage to history when he designed this ring. The cigar feels underfilled and has a mild aroma, in which ammonia can still be smelled.

    

The wrapper has a salty flavor. The cold draw is loose, with a sweet and peppery raising flavor. The cigar starts metallic with hay, grass, and sugar. When the metallic flavor fades away, the grass and sugar grow. Green herbs and a dash of ground white pepper show up too. The flavors are quite full, with more pepper than expected. The flavors are also a little harsh too, due to insufficient fermenting and aging of the raw product. The mouthfeel is creamy. The second thirds have that specific Cuban leather with pepper, walnut, and some vanilla sweetness. Halfway the pepper is at its peak, subtle yet strong. There’s a hint of cedar too. In the final third, the walnut flavor comes to the foreground, with nuts and a balanced pepper. Near the end, the pepper gains strength again.



    The cigar produces a lot of smoke and dark ash. The construction of the cigar is horrible. And this time, it’s not a plug that is the problem. The problem is tunnel burn, which was bad in this cigar.

    Strength: Medium
    Flavor: Medium-full

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    C**** I********

    Origin : CubaQuai d'Orsay
    Format : Grand Edmundo
    Size : 135 mm x 54
    Ring : 54
    Hand-Made
    Price :12USD-

    Cigar Rating

    Draw : [rating:5/6]
    Burn : [rating:5/6]
    Flavour : [rating:3.5/6]
    Aroma : [rating:4/6]
    Strength : [rating:2.5/6]

    Cigar Brand Overview

    Quai d’Orsay was created in the 70s when the recently elected president at the time, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, asked his minister of economy to create a French cigar. As the former president explained “France is known for its perfume, champagne, foie gras but nothing in the world of tobacco”.
    La Seita, company that had the monopoly of tobacco in France, was commissioned to create a cigar for the French market. Quai d’Orsay became the third brand at that time on the market with a non Cuban name, after Davidoff and Dunhill.

    The marca was present in minor markets only. Over the past decade France was able to enjoy beautiful Quai d’Orsay regional editions that became collector items.

    Since last year we can experience a “re-birth” of Quai D’orsay. 2 new vitola, a new look for the brand and a great blend. The n.50, already reviewed here and the No.54.

    Cigar Appearance
    I personaly love the new branding of Quai D’Orsay. The work Habanos S.A. and La Seita is great. Most of the Quai D’Orsay cigars will be claro to Colorado claro wrapper. The one reviewed has a stunning light shade of brown wrapper. Smooth and very elegant visually, matching perfectly with the new cigar band. I love the attention to detail to the band with the small gold spot in the letters for example. It is a great balance between simplicity and elegance.

    Cigar Tasting

    The Quai D’Orsay No.54 is a great big size cigar. Slightly shorter than the Behike 54. As described previously their wrappers are amazing. very good looking and of a high quality.
    As I cut the cigar, or open the cigar as I sometimes like to say, the I see a great construction. Not to tight not to packed. The pre draw confirmed my thoughts.

    The first few puffs were very light in flavours and aromas, very short finish and almost no structure on the palate. The density of smoke is immediately very high and very enjoyable.
    As this is the first cigar of the day for me, with a coffee and nothing eaten before, I kind of like the fact that the structure is very weak. The flavours appear slowly with some nice sweet vanilla and a gentle nuttiness. Definitely not the most expressif blend so far but the amount of smoke and the light strength allow the very subtle flavour to stand out and being enjoyed.

    During the second part the intensity slowly increase and the cigar vary between light and light to medium. Some moments are not balanced at all and express the ammonia left in the cigar too much. A slight bitterness appears on the palate but the flavours profiles from before increase with the addition sometimes of a Islay whisky finish on the palate. The feeling you have after having had a sip of a lagavulin 10 minutes ago. Very interesting. The structure is a bit more dense and allow the flavour to linger slightly more on the palate.
    The aroma is great and intense.

    The Last third is probably what you would really expect. Elegant and round would be enough to describe it. The moment of unbalanced is over.
    However the blend is sometimes a bit dry on the palate and the flavours are good that we can feel a bit frustrated not to experience them more. It is a very light blend one of the lightest one I have experienced in months. Lighters than the corona claro and the No.50 but makes it a great Sunday morning cigar 🙂

    Overall Rating

    I enjoyed the No.54 as an easy smoke without any complexity.
    If you are looking for a cigar rich and full of flavours it is certainly not the right one.
    It makes it the perfect Brunch companion!

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Cigar Region Cuba
Filler Cuban
Wrapper Cuba
Binder Cuba
Length 5 1/3
Ring Gauge 54
Vitola Robusto
Construction Hand Made