Partagas Legend Corona Extra Leyenda

At the annual IPCPR trade show in 2018, General Cigar Co. released a new line for the Partagas brand. The Partagas Legend was created to pay tribute to the most influential figures over the years; those that helped elevate Partagas to its modern-day status. The five cigarmakers featured are: Ramón Cifuentes, a legendary cigar maker behind Partagas for decades; Jaime Partagás, who founded Partagás in Cuba in 1845; Edgar Cullman Sr., CEO of General Cigar for decades; Daniel Nunez, who was president and CEO of General and worked at the company for 34 years; and finally, Benji Menendez, a legendary blender for General (and the cigar industry as a whole) and former Senior VP of General Cigar. A brand like Partagas is clearly steeped in history and the Partages Legend pays homage to the people it took to establish such a long-lasting brand—among the world’s oldest and most venerable.

Partagas Legend Breakdown

Partagas Legend’s blend is unique in that each of the tobaccos used are significant to the Partagas brand’s history (post-Cuba). This is accomplished through the use of Dominican Piloto Cubano filler leaves (said to be among General Cigar’s finest aged tobaccos), a Honduran Olancho San Agustin binder, and a USA-grown Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. The cigars have been rolled in three box-pressed formats, being priced notably higher than anything within the brand’s current lineup.

Appearance

The cigar’s box-press is attractive; on the specific cigar smoked for review, the top is a sharp press and the remaining three sides are only semi-pressed. The white band has faint, intricate embossing—being primarily white-on-white—giving a stark, regal appearance. The cap is somewhat sloppily applied and there looks to be some vegetable glue visible. There are some visible veins (nothing too offensive) and no noticeable blemishes. The wrapper is light brown (resembling baseball glove leather), differing from the dark and gritty maduro appearances of traditional Broadleaf-wrapped cigars. The wrapper smells of leather as well (sticking with my baseball glove theme), and there are notes of dark, rich fruit on the foot.

Smoking Experience

The first puff tastes like toasted marshmallow and campfire—it reminds me of s’mores with a toasty sweetness. The draw is slightly tight to begin, taking a bit of extra effort to get some smoke rolling. As it progresses, the Partagas Legend brings notes of sweet oak and whisky; combined with some of the toasted flavor from before, there is almost a bourbon-barrel flavor to it. At close to the one-inch mark, the burn gets slightly wonky on me and I have to touch up. While the flavor output is medium, strength and body are both hovering around medium-plus.

Partagas Legend may look like a natural, but the cigar smokes like a maduro, at least in its early portions. As herbal notes begin to appear, I’m impressed by some of the quick flavor changes within the cigar’s beginning. Overall, the flavor hasn’t been incredibly refined, but there are interesting characteristics and good changes to keep the palate alert. The draw has loosened, causing an outpour of smoke and heavy doses of black pepper and whiskey punch on the retrohale. It is a much darker and richer smoking experience than the wrapper would indicate.

The cigar has really started to open up at about 30 minutes in. I have to touchup a second time, causing rich notes of leather, black pepper, and thyme to enter the fold. As a stream of earthy smoke rolls out, the Legend begins to taste like a parmesan crisp or a parmesan-crusted pork tenderloin—rich but with some musk to it. Suddenly, this cigar has turned into a smoke bomb.

A little bitterness appears. The ash is dark. Cacao nibs and dark chocolate materialize. This is a surprising flavor profile and the cigar has definitely developed. Looking back, the construction wasn’t perfect, but it was solid enough to enjoy myself.

Would I Smoke This Cigar Again?

The Partagas Legend is a solid cigar, no doubt about it. The Corona Extra Leyenda size specifically was ideal for me. It is an incredibly easy cigar to smoke and I’ll say this: I’ll smoke this cigar again over anything else in Partagas’ core lineup.

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