Cigar Review: Partagas Benji Homage

Cigar: Partagas Benji Homage
Size: 6 1/2 × 54
Wrapper: Honduran
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf
Filler: Dominican, Mexican and Honduran
Price: Box of 10 is $85.95 at Cigars International
This cigar was gifted to me by a friend of mine.

A few weeks ago, my brother randomly stops by the house. While this isn’t uncommon, he had in tow a good friend of ours from college. Tim and his family were in town were in town for the day and came by to play me the money he owed me for winning his fantasy football league this past year. In addition to the money won, he also gave me a single Partagas Benji Homage in exchange for the tardy prize money. Doing a bit of research, the cigar is named after Benjamin “Benji” Menendez, with over 60+ years in the cigar industry was key to developing the Partagas brand here in the United States.

Partagas, like many other long-time brands in the cigar industry, isn’t typically the first I reach for when buying single cigars but because this one was new to me, I was eager to try it. Removing the paper wrapper from the cigar, I found no construction issues in the build of the cigar. I also detected a hint of cocoa before lighting. After a punch and light, I was greeted with a balanced draw and notes of light pepper and leather. CI classifies the cigar as medium to full bodied; my personal opinion is that it starts at medium bodied and ventures up to medium-to-full by the end. The cigar reminded me of an improved Partagas Spanish Rosado, for those familiar with the cigar.

Around the midway point of the cigar, it ever so slightly increased in strength. And with that increase came a touch more pepper notes in the palette. By the last quarter of the cigar, the strength increased more still but I found that the pepper disappeared but were replaced by light notes of cocoa and vanilla that finished out the smoking time of 1:32. No issues came up in the smoking of the cigar. The burn stayed even, the cigar didn’t go out on me at anytime and the flavor profile was pleasant right until I put it down.

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10

To recap the Partagas Benji Homage:

• I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar. The strength and flavor profile will cater to both new and season cigar smokers. My wife who normally smokes medium bodied cigars was able to pick one up for herself recently and loved it.
• The price point for these is probably right on when buying the box of 10. I would imagine at local shops you’ll see singles move up to the $9 to $10 range. Even then I think that is still fair.
• If you are a fan of Partagas cigar (especially the Spanish Rosado), you’ll likely enjoy this. I’ll be keeping an eye out for these in my local shops and will be picking some up when I find them available.

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.