UK Supermarket Cigars: Review 4 - Moments Panatella

[kevie49]

I'd never seen Moments until recently, but they seem to have become a regular in the UK supermarkets more in their mini cigar form. A bit of research brought up that they are a new brand from the Scandinavian Tobacco Group United Kingdom Limited and they aim for the budget end of the market (or as they put it, they are value for money products). This in itself made me wary as I generally find that the stuff available in the UK supermarkets is low end and lacking in quality. When I purchased these at the low price of £3.99 for 5 (which works out at 80p a cigar) from the local Co-op, this did not give me much confidence.


According to the packet, the tobacco used in this blend comes from Paraguay, Brazil, Philippines, Indonesia and Ecuador. This is a pretty standard sized for a supermarket cigar: 4 inches in length with a ring gauge of 30.



The cigars come in a plain, clear wrapper, I couldn't find a notch to pull off so I had to open it from the end. They were loosely packed, a bit of a spongy feel and also had a note of spice from the pre light fragrance.


On initial light the smoke is mellow and creamy with a lingering light spice on the tongue in the aftertaste. A light leathery note in the was evident throughout the first third. The cigar had a very surprisingly good and even burn.



By the time that I had smoked it to the half way point the leathery taste is still there, but there is a slightly earthy taste now and the spice in the tip of the tongue is still there. However there is now a slight bitter aftertaste creeping in with the spices.



The smoke output from this cigar is minimal, to the point where I'd almost thought that it had gone out, but I was wrong it stayed alight and had a decent ash given the size of the cigar. Midway through the final third, which was 15 minutes of smoking time, this cigar started to became too harsh and bitter to enjoy any more of.



A surprisingly decent cheap smoke, I was dreading it as it was simply (in my eyes) too cheap. Like so many of these panatella size it was a quick smoke, but had some decent tastes in there and proved to have a bit more depth than others in this range that I've tried. It was a shame about the bitterness at the end, but for under £1 a stick then I can't complain.