In the contest’s website, Siragusa reaches out to cigar smokers who are relegated to enjoying their cigar in dark, dingy basements or forced out in the cold garage and makes them an offer they can’t refuse. In his call to entry, Siragusa connects with cigar smoking brethren by appealing to their need for their very own, in-home cigar cave.

Consumers of legal smoking age who purchase a special four-pack of best selling, full bodied Partagas Black Label cigars at cigar shops throughout the U.S. between May 26 and July 31, 2009 will receive a redemption code detailing how they can enter videos, photos and written descriptions of their domestic cigar smoking predicament to win the $10,000 prize allowing them to create a customized Partagas Cigar Cave for their home. Consumers can also enter by visiting www.partagascigarcave.com. The winner will be selected on or before August 21, 2009.

Debo Mukherjee, vice president of marketing, comments, “The trend toward in-home ‘caves’ where men can be men continues to gain momentum. To connect with the lion’s share of cigar enthusiasts who are forced to enjoy the pleasure of a fine cigar in undesirable locations, we found it only fitting to tap Tony Siragusa to convince cigar smokers to share their stories with us. For a cigar lover, having an in-home smoking lounge is the ultimate nirvana and we’re pleased to be able to provide it in the name of such a well-respected brand as Partagas.”

Consumers will be encouraged to vote on contest entries which will be posted on partagascigarcave.com. General Cigar, parent company of Partagas, will harness social media by pushing Siragusa’s call to entry via online cigar communities, as well as YouTube, Facebook and a host of other video content sharing sites.

“These entries and the online conversations they spark represent a fun viral component in this social media promotion,” added Mukherjee.

Partagas Cigar Cave will be supported at tobacco retail shops with point-of-sale displays featuring Tony Siragusa. Select tobacconists across the U.S. will also host special Partagas Cigar Cave parties at retail. Consumers are not the only ones eligible to win in this promotion. The retailer who sells a four-pack to the winning contestant will win a custom Partagas Cigar Lounge for his store.

Habanos S.A., the owner/operator of Partagas, has indicated that the economic downturn, rising taxes, and complete smoking bans have caused a major fall in overall sales.

Alice Jones of the Independent has reported:

“For the last three weeks the schoolroom on the first floor of the elegant 19th-century Partagas cigar factory in central Havana has lain empty. Chairs are piled up on top of the rows of wooden desks where up to 300 trainee torcedores (rollers) are normally taught the intricate art of cigar-making.

The factory is no longer recruiting and has further sacked 15 percent of its staff, thanks to a spectacular fall in demand. Those remaining are no longer allowed to produce over their quotas to earn a little extra. Once they have reached their target – for the highest rollers, up to 120 deftly hand-made cigars a day – they are sent home.”

A company and their brand that has survived through a country revolution will be able to survive through this current economic slump – hopefully.

Partagas Black Clasico is a cigar that is produced by General Cigar Company. Daniel Nunez is the mastermind behind this blend and he has “…spent 10 years perfecting the Medio Tempo wrapper and the La Vega Especial binder“.

Medio Tempo wrappers, according to the General Cigar marketing machine, “are darker, heavier and richer than other wrappers because they are harvested only after they have been allowed to age on their plants 50% longer than other wrapper leaves“.

While I am not entirely sure if this is factual or strictly good advertisement: The classic Partagas Black cigars are dark, oily, and one of the best cigars you can-and-should have in your collection.

Construction: First thing you will notice of the Partagas Black cigars is the dark, dark, dark color of the wrapper.  The perfectly wrapped cigars are oily and covered with small veins that do not effect the burn. Like most General Cigars the Partagas was firm and had no soft spots.

Draw: Punch or cut the Partagas Black is going to give you a good draw.

Burn: In my box of Clasico cigars I would say that half of them burned a little jagged but gave me no problems while the other half burned perfectly. Either way the cigars burned at just the right speed.

Taste: Your first couple of puffs on the Partagas Black will deliver a slight spicy taste.  The spice is second to a earthy flavor that is easy on the pallet.  Ending the first third of the cigar introduces a sweetness that stays through the entire smoke. Ash on the cigar is peppery and solid.

The second third of the cigar is when the spicy after taste becomes more prominent. The finish is now earthy and still leaves a sweet aftertaste on the pallet. At this point the body of the Partagas is starting to creep a little more into the full range.

You reach the strongest part of the cigar at the end (like most cigars) but it is still in the medium range, the dark oily wrapper had more bark and not so much bite. The flavor profiles stay very consistent through the entire smoke. So I can only tell you that it had spice, an earthly flavor, and sweet finish.

Final Verdict: The Partagas Black is a must buy cigar. The cigar it self retails for about $6 a stick and is easy on the wallet. Thanks to the way General Cigar Company sells their products to everybody and anybody (even 7-11 carries their brands) you can find a box of Partagas Blacks online for $70. If paying $3.5 a cigar wasn’t enough incentive – most of the online retailers will even send you a hat or shirt for taking a General Brand cigar out of their inventory.

Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas 1997 No. II is a mild bodied, limited edition, aged cigar created from very fine Cameroon wrapper leaves. The wrapper leaves are carefully grown and maintained (aged) in Spanish cedar rooms. Partagas Reserve Decadas wrappers are then individually chosen from the bails – on average only 3 of every 1,000 leaves will be used.

The finished product is beautifully marketed to correspond with the cigars interesting story. Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas ship in a light colored box. The outside of the Decadas box is stamped with a cool looking metal Partagas emblem. On the inside you will find a hand signed authenticity card that will give you the year of the cigars and other various cigar history. Two trays sit below this card with slightly cut grooves – this allows the glass tubes to sit perfectly. The glass tubes are thick and have a metal tag attached to the top stamped with the year of the cigar.

A lot has gone into creating this cigar. A lot has gone into marketing the Partagas Limited Reserve Decadas.

Construction: Partagas Reserve wrappers will slightly vary in color from year to year. This 1997 Reserve was dark enough to know you would get some flavors but not dark enough to make anyone intimidated. The wrapper of the Limited Reserve has only small slight veins. In the glass tube the cigar may appear super oily but once removed I would say this has a medium sheen. Partagas usually creates a good stick – so I was not surprised when there were no soft spots and everything felt firm.

I don’t want to be too picky from the beginning but the Limited Reserve construction did not have the quality of VSG, Opus, Oliva, or even J. Fuego.

Draw: Draw has always been perfect with the Reserve. It doesn’t matter if you use the punch or cutter.

Burn: I am going to say that this is the only thing the cigar DID NOT really do well in. From my box of Decadas I would say a lot (for a $18 +) of them tend to burn uneven. Midway through the stick is when the miss burn happens but eventually the cigar will correct on its own.

Taste: This is a Cameroon wrapper aged in a Spanish cedar room for ten years. Of course you will get the woody, somewhat spicy, and maybe I taste a bit of nut in the stick. The beginning is my favorite part of the smoke – but oddly enough this cigar isn’t “memorable“. It remains like this for most of the cigar.

The smoke is smooth, its enjoyable, but it never left me craving it like I know some cigars can do (think CG4).

Eventually the cigar tends to get more leathery and a bit more full in body as you smoke.

You will also notice you have no ash. For some reason it tends to fall off every 2 inches.

Verdict Is: You might be able to tell by the lack of information from the “Taste” section that I wasn’t too impressed with this stick. The only reason I wasn’t impressed is that it cost upwards of $18.

I can name ten sticks off the top of my head that you will enjoy more, that will make you crave a second, and make the evening perfect and all cost less.

Lets think about it: Opus X (if you buy at retail) is less than this stick.

The only reason I bought this box of cigars is because I got a good deal on it.