Description
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Just the other Tuesday, I was lurking in the back corner of my late uncle’s library. You know the type of place I mean — it smells of decaying paper, floorwax and about eighty years’ worth of secrets. I hadn’t even been looking for anything; I had been escaping humidity and the din ofthe modern world. When a loose photograph fell out of a 1940s atlas and onto my shoe, I started yanking these gargantuan leather-bound sexless blocs off the shelves solely out of curiosity.
It was a grainy, sepia-toned picture of a man ona porch in Pinar del Río. He wore an expression of the pure uncoddled joy, gripping a long thick stogie that should be on display in some museum. It also made me contemplate thegenealogy of what we smoke. We work so hard at the ‘new’ and at the ‘limited.’ But looking that picture, I felt a sudden sharp itch to download a classic front-runner that doesn’t have to strain mightily to be something other than itself. When I got home, first thing I did was head to the humidor and past all that flashystuff… grab a smoke that I’ve been smokin’ on the regular for 10 years.
That smoke? The H. Upmann Magnum 50. This is the kind of cigar that might have been in that old photo, although this particular vitola hasn’t always been hanging around. It’s got soul, that old world. So while sitting on my own porch rabbiting the guy in the pic and taking a good hour and a half to just remember why this is one of 3 permanent entries I have in my collection.
The Specs
| Ring Gauge | 50 |
| Length | 160 mm (6.3 inches) |
| Vitola | Double Robusto (Magnum 50) |
| Origin | Cuba |
| Wrapper | Cuban Vuelta Abajo |
| Binder | Cuban Vuelta Abajo |
| Filler | Cuban Vuelta Abajo |
Construction: The Hand-Feel
And let me tell you; the Magnum 50 is somebusiness. It feels hefty in the hand—not quite a “club,” but construction is fat enough (about 15 grams, if you like to keep score) so that youknow it’s there. The wrapper on the one I had torched was a light bronzeColorado color. It’s velvety to the touch (you might get some veins). I don’t mind the veins, it reminds me thatthiscame out of the dirtin Vuelta Abajo not some laboratory. It’s rustic but clean.
The pre-light draw was what I wanted it to be.
I straight cut — get one of those funky V-cuts and it doesn’t jibe with a 50 ring gauge this long — and cold-drew. It musty and was such tasteth moist earth or dried hay. The pack was always the same sensation from top to bottom. No soft spots, no lumps. Boring old well-pressed man-made from the Habanospeeps rn. Cubans I have smoked a few Cubans that felt like they had been rolled in by someone in a hurry, not the Magnum 50 – this one appears to have some love put into it.
The First Third: Establishingthe Palate
Lighting this thing is aritual. And since 160mm is a long way, you can’t be in a hurry to get there. I tried it with a cedar spill (hey, I’m feeling a little librarian nostalgia) and a Bic. So whenthe foot was super-heated, the first few puffs were monster. This isn’t a shy cigar. There is a large volume ofsmoke, white and low in the air.
Thetaste started off earthy. It’s not earthy-dirt dirty but garden-after-the-heavily-raining dirt. Tobacco is packed in the core down here. Midrange in weight, its smoke has a“chewy” texture that makes you think it’s richer than that. The spice I got later in were not many, just some very nice tasting “what you see is what you get” tobacco – the flavourjust is what it is. It’s reliable. You ever have a fat cigar that’s a bit too high demand in the early going? This isn’t that. It’s just setting the stage.
The Middle Third: This Is Where the Magic Is
It was around 20 minutes in that the Magnum 50 began to flex its muscle. And it’s this I love most about this process. The earthiness is tamed, and this lush sweetness that borders on buttery starts to come through. And it started to get notes ofvanilla and cinnamon — like a graham cracker that’s been lingering in the vicinity of the spice rack.
But, here’s the killer — and I’ve wrote “the” each time that Ismoke agood aged 50 — there is a telltale fruit on the float.
I was saying, apricots orpossibly peaches. It’s subtle, mind you. You’re not smoking a fruit basket, but there it is in the background, cutting through the rawhide andalmond notes. It’s a sophisticated transition. The power stays where it should: inthat medium sweet spot. It’s characterful without being aggressive. I leaned back to get a good look at the ash hanging in there for a good inch and a half before I shrugged it. Solid construction, for sure.
THE FINAL THIRD:CHARACTERFUL FINISH
Whenthey entered the home stretch things changed again. The silky richness was underpinnedby citrus tang. It’s not sour, just bright. I started tasting woody notes — not hickory, maybe birch or oak — in combination with wheat. Even the spice showed up to the party at long last. Some white pepper in the retrohale that rapes your sinuses but doesn’t set them on fire.
Bearable for most of the day. These “longus” can tart out sour, or ”mushy” in the ick of concentration during its lastcouple of inches,and note there’s no such problem with the Magnum 50. It finished sweet and deep that sat on my tongue well after I set it in the ashtray. It’s a 90-minute commitment, and the truth is, I didn’t even want to take itoff. It has a way of keeping your interest without demanding it.
History and Context
For you collectors, if you haven’t noticed yet they’ve trotted out to good old fizzy shield from that last blend, including the one from 2009. And there are whispers about a Gran Reserva Cosecha 2019 version (a 2025 that’s out now) but with five-year-aged tobacco. That soundscool, but just give me a standard-issue stick. It’s the dependable pattern that keeps me coming back. Whether in a 10-pack or abox of 25, typically, you know what you are going to get.
Pairing Recommendations
You’re going to want a bold, hearty pairfor this. I’ve tried it with peaty scotch, and honestly the scotch won. It overpowered the apricot and vanilla notes.
A big red wine — a Malbec or maybea nice rioja, I’d say. The tannins in the wine nicely compat with the leather and oak of the cigar. If you are smoking this after dinner, have a pot of medium-roast coffee with a hint of cream going on as well. But if you want to do it right, while you are at a steak. It’s something, maybe, about the way the tobacco slices through the fat of red meat that feels right. It’s aclassic for good reason.
The Verdict
S o, is that then H. UpmannMagnum 50 — the most complex cigar in the world? Probably not. But does it need to be? No. You likely know as much about how General Tso’s chicken was first combined in China or wherever it came from (somebody does, I’m sure), but here it is being served out of the pan, a trail of fragrance floating through my kitchen. It’s reliable and well-constructed, with a flavor profile that is unusual enough to provide some interestbut also familiar enough to be comforting. It’s a smoke that serves the needs of a newbie cigar smoker who may have an interested in seeing (or tasting) what all the Cuban fuss is about, yet provides enough character behind it to make an old doglike me happy on a Tuesday afternoon.
So if you have one billion minutes and would like for your tobacco to taste like a substance that was once at least considered historical, this stick is the optimal stick for you.
A really well made, flavoursome Double Robusto that doesn’t require any fuss to make a point! I’m glad I found that picture in the library; it’s nice to be reminded that sometimes some of life’s best moments are those which have been staring you right in the face for years!
Final Thought: Keep a few of these in your humidor. If you can bear it, hoard them for a year or two. Theyare beautiful as they mature, and that fabulousness only becomes more intense.
