La Luna Reserva '96 Torpedo

[qajariaq]

I had the Reserva rolling around in the humidor since 2003, and recently read another Reserva review noting that they were possibly past their prime now. I took it along with me today as I had a 1.5 hour drive home this evening and figured it would be a great time to burn it. No sense in holding on to it any longer if its not going to improve with further age. At 12 years old, it should be ready to go!

Upon lighting, I thought that it was definitely past its prime. It was mild; no, bland is probably more accurate. There was a slight musty quality to it. I considered pitching it. Only a slightly sweet "camaroon" flavor was present, and my green tea easily overpowered it. With nothing else to do, I kept smoking it - which turned out to be one of my better decisions today.

About an inch in, however, it really picked up. The flavor intensified considerably, and it took on a flavor quality much like barely-ripe grapes - semi-sweet and dry on the palate. By the time I had figured out that flavor, it changed, this time adding a layer of cocoa over the fruit-like flavor (very reminiscent of semi-sweet-chocolate-covered cherries). And once again, by the time I had determined what the added flavor was, another layer of flavor was added: cedar. The woodsy flavor (and distinct aroma) was quite strong and put some of the earlier flavors in the background. Smoking on, it added some spice and earthiness on to all the other flavors present. By the time I had smoked it to the band, it had built to a rich crescendo of multi-layered flavors. If I could have held on to the nub, I would have kept smoking it 'till I burned my lips!

Its really too bad these are well out of production now. I think they are still in prime smoking territory, though; who knows if they'll improve further? I'd put this cigar in the top 5 cigars I've ever smoked, including many with much greater age and highly-sought-after pedigrees . If this isn't a testimonial to the wonders of long-term aging, I don't know what is!