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Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez
Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano 2000
Binder: Criollo '98 Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Format: Robusto box-pressed
Length: 107 mm x RG 54
This is the first box-pressed cigar. The first cigar in the Robusto format. The first smoke outdoors (and it's devilishly cold). This should be interesting!
The cigar is, of course, very luxuriously and neatly designed. It looks solid and expensive. The wrapper is perfectly smooth, dense, and strong, oily, and fragrant: almond-vanilla-flowers-honey, which is very unusual for a Maduro. The roll is quite tight, and the draw is slightly tighter than ideal.
The beginning is confident, with notes of coffee, marzipan, cured leather, a strong spicy background, and a distinct tobacco flavor. When I say "tobacco flavor," I mean the taste of Kentucky tobacco. It has a solid strength. Unfortunately, the wind didn't let me appreciate the aroma of the smoke.
As the first third turns to ash, a slight lacquer flavor appears. Coffee-chocolate notes. The flavors of walnut and oak dry out the mouth and make the cigar bitter, but it's a pleasant bitterness. The strength increases linearly.
After the halfway point, the smoking experience suddenly became much less enjoyable. First barely noticeable, the lacquer flavor turned into a distinct and remarkably unpleasant acetone taste. Until the beginning of the last third, I wasn't smoking – I was enduring it. I have no idea what was wrong. Maybe I'm an idiot and overheated the cigar. Maybe there's some internal flaw in the roll – a poor roll usually gives exactly this effect and often – throughout the smoking experience.
In the last third, the acetone disappears, as does the bitterness. The cigar delights with a dense coffee-leathery taste with notes of pecan, black pepper, a barely noticeable caramel sweetness, and a light minty freshness. Magnificent, I didn't even expect that from such a small format. Let's say this cigar is apologizing for that nightmarish acetone. Apology accepted, damn it! My face broke into a satisfied smile – for the first time in a week. Indeed, such a bouquet would satisfy even the most demanding smoker. And sweetness, and spice, and astringency, and freshness – and all this with the highest strength. It seems that it couldn't get any better, but the cigar still has a couple of aces up its sleeve – nutmeg and baked goods join in at 1/6.
Verdict: a very decent cigar. I would say "excellent," but remembering my feelings from the disgusting chemical taste after 1/2, I can't do that. In everything else, it's above all praise: rich, full-bodied, strong, with an excellent draw, and even in windy, cold weather, I was able to light it with matches. By the way, if I had smoked it indoors, and not shivered from the cold outside, the review would probably have been more detailed, and the rating would have been higher. The fact that the cigar performs so well in such uncomfortable conditions is a credit to it. Very strong, especially at the end, but the nicotine hit is moderate. It will be very good with dark roast coffee and slightly less good with aged rum – the main thing is not too sweet. I'll rate the strength at 8/10, and I'll give the cigar itself a 86/100
Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano 2000
Binder: Criollo '98 Nicaraguan
Filler: Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Format: Robusto box-pressed
Length: 107 mm x RG 54
This is the first box-pressed cigar. The first cigar in the Robusto format. The first smoke outdoors (and it's devilishly cold). This should be interesting!
The cigar is, of course, very luxuriously and neatly designed. It looks solid and expensive. The wrapper is perfectly smooth, dense, and strong, oily, and fragrant: almond-vanilla-flowers-honey, which is very unusual for a Maduro. The roll is quite tight, and the draw is slightly tighter than ideal.
The beginning is confident, with notes of coffee, marzipan, cured leather, a strong spicy background, and a distinct tobacco flavor. When I say "tobacco flavor," I mean the taste of Kentucky tobacco. It has a solid strength. Unfortunately, the wind didn't let me appreciate the aroma of the smoke.
As the first third turns to ash, a slight lacquer flavor appears. Coffee-chocolate notes. The flavors of walnut and oak dry out the mouth and make the cigar bitter, but it's a pleasant bitterness. The strength increases linearly.
After the halfway point, the smoking experience suddenly became much less enjoyable. First barely noticeable, the lacquer flavor turned into a distinct and remarkably unpleasant acetone taste. Until the beginning of the last third, I wasn't smoking – I was enduring it. I have no idea what was wrong. Maybe I'm an idiot and overheated the cigar. Maybe there's some internal flaw in the roll – a poor roll usually gives exactly this effect and often – throughout the smoking experience.
In the last third, the acetone disappears, as does the bitterness. The cigar delights with a dense coffee-leathery taste with notes of pecan, black pepper, a barely noticeable caramel sweetness, and a light minty freshness. Magnificent, I didn't even expect that from such a small format. Let's say this cigar is apologizing for that nightmarish acetone. Apology accepted, damn it! My face broke into a satisfied smile – for the first time in a week. Indeed, such a bouquet would satisfy even the most demanding smoker. And sweetness, and spice, and astringency, and freshness – and all this with the highest strength. It seems that it couldn't get any better, but the cigar still has a couple of aces up its sleeve – nutmeg and baked goods join in at 1/6.
Verdict: a very decent cigar. I would say "excellent," but remembering my feelings from the disgusting chemical taste after 1/2, I can't do that. In everything else, it's above all praise: rich, full-bodied, strong, with an excellent draw, and even in windy, cold weather, I was able to light it with matches. By the way, if I had smoked it indoors, and not shivered from the cold outside, the review would probably have been more detailed, and the rating would have been higher. The fact that the cigar performs so well in such uncomfortable conditions is a credit to it. Very strong, especially at the end, but the nicotine hit is moderate. It will be very good with dark roast coffee and slightly less good with aged rum – the main thing is not too sweet. I'll rate the strength at 8/10, and I'll give the cigar itself a 86/100
E si sui vius, er mi grans benananza,
e si ieu muoir, er mi grans deliuriers
e si ieu muoir, er mi grans deliuriers