(Size: 4 3/8″ x 42 — Time: 30mins)



I’ve been in Turkey for a fortnight, so apologies for the lack of posts in that time. I was surprised by the amount of censorship in that country given it’s desire to be considered as a ‘modern democracy’ – YouTube’s banned and all tobacco products are blurred on Turkish TV… Still, their docs are pretty good (I unfortunately had to make use of one…) Anyway, here’s my first review on my return, I made the notes a while back and, since I made them, I have since smoked a few more of these cigars (and have taken them into account in the overall score). I’ve got four more reviews lined up for the coming days, so keep checking back!

A while back, JJ Fox on St James’ Street in London held a Cuban Limited Edition celebration event. As this didn’t begin until the evening, I had an afternoon to kill at the store in question. Now, one of the best aspects of JJ Fox is their reasonable selection of aged cigars. Not the super ‘vintage’ ranges (though they have them too), but a decent range of cigars from 5 to 15 years of age. When looking through the selection, I happened upon a cab of Party Shorts, a little cigar with a great reputation. Well, I just couldn’t resist…

Appearance /15



A few little veins were visible, as was a portion of the seam, but neither was overly detrimental to the appearance. There was a nice, dark Colorado shade to the wrapper, and it had that great sheen which most great cigars have. It was a little firm to the touch, but not hard. 13



Smoking Characteristics /25



This cigar has a great, predominantly chocolaty aroma pre-light. The lighting itself was a pretty straightforward and the early draws were excellent – providing just the right amount of resistance and a good deal of smoke. Around the half-way stage, however, the draw became a little tighter, though not overly so, and at the same time the volume of smoke diminished somewhat. The ash itself was a little on the ugly side, and the burn was distinctly average (not particularly even, but didn’t need to much by way of tending). 22



Flavour /25



Arguably, the Short‘s selling point. A little cigar with a big flavour? Well… yes as it happens. Right from the off the cigar gave up lots of nice toasty flavours. Soon, these mellowed out slightly towards the ubiquitous leather that is often described as the ‘Cuban taste’. By half-way though, the support act had faded, and the main attraction was centre-stage – coffee… People, this is divine! It’s like supping up a great Italian espresso, with the rich ‘crema’ and big-hitting roasted bean flavours. 24



Overall Impression /35



The Party Short is a great vitola – it is that fantastic size which just screams out to be your ‘go to’ for coffee breaks and cold days in the garden. I now grab one of these every time I visit JJ Fox (hands off people!) and they are wonderfully consistent, and have generally had slightly better smoking characteristics than the reviewed example (something for which I have accounted in this element of the score). It’s a cigar which is all about great flavours and it doesn’t disappoint. The coffee it gives in the second half is just heavenly, and despite their relative strength for such a small cigar, I have yet to have one which has become hot or harsh in any way. 33



Grand total… 92/100