Cigar Review: H Upmann Club Selection No. 2 Maduro

This week we decided to review the H Upmann Club Selection No. 2 Maduro. Handmade at La Flor de Copan in Honduras, the H. Upmann Club cigar is a product of commitment to high quality cigars that was first undertaken by Fabrica de Tabacos la Flor de Copan in 1964. The quality and consistency of the Club Selection is reflected from centuries of tobacco cultivation in the Santa Rosa region of Honduras.

While opening the cigar I immediately noticed the dark, silky maduro wrapper. At first, the pre-light pulls were not overly flavorful, however the cigar picks up throughout the smoke and becomes full of flavor.  The torpedo shape of the cigar helped concentrate all of the earthy flavors within this stogie.

To my surprise the first 3^rd of the cigar started out really flavorful but almost immediately settled down and became a somewhat mellow smoke, something I did not expect due to the dark appearance of the maduro wrapper. With a smooth, chocolaty taste, the beginning of this cigar is slightly sweet, but not overwhelmingly so.  The power increased as soon as I reached the second 3rd. The second 3^rd of this tasty stogie is much earthier and leans towards the realm of a medium to full bodied smoke. The longer the ash on this cigar the more it mellows out making it easier to smoke. As I got into the final 3^rd of this stogie it became a lot spicier and had built up a nice, dense 3 inch ash before falling off. The finish is pretty heavy but still enjoyable with its spicy flavors really coming through.

Because this medium to full bodied stogie is so flavorful you want to make sure to take your time smoking it. Since this stogie is not a light cigar I wouldn’t recommend it to beginners because of its strength, which is moderate, but enough to possibly overwhelm someone who isn’t used to cigars with a little bite. In the end I decided to give the H Upmann Club Selection No. 2 Maduro a B rating. This is a great cigar for the experienced smoker and if you enjoy a strong, flavorful smoke this stogie is perfect for you!