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Bought the travel humidor in 2011. White lacquered box with 15 cigars inside and a humidifier. Well make it short the humidifier was a nice art object. But I didn’t know it better as a greenhorn. The only way to pretend the cigars of a dry out was putting them away into another box. The travel humidor I kept it to but my small coins in there. Back to the cigar. Courtesy of ccw it’s an Robusto Extra with the size of 50x6 1/8” 4.000 Humidors had been produced. Draw is very easy. Prefer to punch the cigar. First puffs are loads of white pepper and black tea. Burn is razor sharp. It’s between light & medium Perfect smoke on a hot day. Ash looks flaky but it’s rocksteady. All in all a wonderful smoke under medium with nice developments. Smoking durations was 120 minutes.

Ready for some cigar pr0n? Someone on FB reached out to me about a shopkeeper who is looking to ID what era these are from and any background information. The items in question are both from Hoyo de Monterrey. One appears to be a salesman sample case with 62 cigars. The other is a huge wall mounted cabinet showcasing the HdM factorie's offerings (in fivers) along with two monster showpiece cigars. There are some really gorgeous bands here too. If anyone here has any insight, please post here. In the meantime, enjoy the pics. Salesman travel case. Top of case. Closeup of seal. Open case. Some closeups of the cigars. Second item: HdM Cabinet. Probably used to hang in the factory at one time. Closeup on fivers. Closeup of "artillery shell" cigar. Closeup on second large cigar.

I'm sure I'm one of many that will review Des Dieux this week and am looking forward to what others think of this line. I'm definitely late to the HDM party. To say that HDM is underrepresented in my humidor is an understatement. Des Dieux is the only one I own. I must admit I do not get that itch to pull the trigger when other HDM come up for sale, compared to Monties, Partagas or Cohibas. I have tried a few different cigars from HDM but they never piqued my interest. I have found myself gravitating consistently to Partagas, RA or Cohibas. This box I own is from our host, when a PSP box was made available. Pictures that Rob took were delectable and it was the first time I couldn't resist. I've had one stick just a month after I received it in the mail, just to sample it fresh. And now, this weekly challenge is the newest excuse to try another one. My goal is to age it at least 5 years before integrating it into the rotation. But this will be an exception. It's a beautiful box with dark rich silky wrappers. It feels great in the hand. I love long skinnies. They just feel right and they are my second favorite format. -First Third- Opening is beautiful with a long finish, laden with almost nectarine like sweetness mixed with some coco and roasted tobacco. It is glorious even though it's young. I know I'm in for a treat and I head to my liquor cabinet to grab a bourbon to enjoy it with. It's bloody hot today and so I do something I normally do not do. I will drink my bourbon with ice. ("Blasphemy!", you say. But seriously, it's super hot and dry). Cigar is mild-medium body and the fruity goodness is bountiful. -Second Third- The second third is interesting. The fruit has died down just a tad and with the body picking up just a bit. It tastes more like stone fruit compote and meat dish. Very pleasant. Enjoyable in a slightly different way compared to first third. Beautiful gray ash. Lovely long finish still. I'm craving some pork chops for some reason. Toward the end of the second third, I experience just a touch of pepper. -Final Third- I'm one of those people that finish cigars to the nub. The problem is that I've had many instances where the last third was mediocre or a complete let down. Many times, I face acrid full strength monstrosity in cigars that really let you down. If the last third is a let down, I am a cranky guy. Perhaps it's my short attention span but even if the first two thirds were great, I am so profoundly disappointed if the final third literally stinks. Well, I don't have that problem with this stick. I'm still getting long smooth sweet finish and the pepper flavor is coming in nicely. No acrid flavor or that unpleasant taste you get if you take a draw of the cigar when the cherry is out. It's peaches, and nectarine all around and I smoke it to about a centimeter, while I singe the tip of my fingers. -Final Thoughts- I'm glad that Rob and Ken's reviews in the past brought me to this cigar. I will admit that I'm still not convinced of the HDM marca and am still deciding if I should start exploring more of their line up. When I first joined the forum, I purchased a sampler and I tried a few but was never really impressed. Perhaps in the future, I'll dive in some more.

Just came back from Paphos, Cyprus. Visited the lcdh there and found these Le Hoyo du Prince, in cardboard 5 packs. According to ccw, these were discontinued in 2006. If so, these are aged and rare. Your thoughts?

Hoyo du Maire, when I started to smoke cigars the du Maire was one of my first boxes I bought. Along with the ERDM Demitasse. both are Entreactos = Between the theatrical acts. The Demitasse is more box pressed and looks thicker. Both are equal. If you don't have the time for a big cigar but you desire is more than a cigarillo than these two are the right choice. Cold draw reminds my of vanilla cookies. A bit of resistance. Loads of cocoa and cream. It really reminds me of a Montecristo ? The after taste is wood and a warm mouth feeling. Love the little bugger. Quite often I smoke them in my lunch break with a espresso.

Since du Prince is sadly being discontinued, I'm assessing if I should outsource a couple boxes while I'm still seeing them within Germany.First 3rd:Chestnuts, almonds and caramel are dominating this third. Loving the sweetness on the finish along with the pencil shavings notes.Middle 3rd:Almonds are still present. Starting to show some creamy notes. Really interesting hints of lemon drop at the end of this third. Semi-oaky finish.Final 3rd:There's still a touch of cream along with some newly-developed coffee notes. As it reached its end, slight hints of licorice are noticeable on the finish.Solid 90 points. These skinny cigars are really pleasurable to smoke. I'll grab a couple of cabs locally since these cigars are unfortunately becoming hard to get when they do show up in 24:24.

I'm not sure if this one will be in before the deadline, as I see the contest announcement has a conflicting day/date. I smoked this opne at a coffee shop where they never hassle you for smoking on their outdoor patio, but their WiFi filter prevents me from accessing FOH because of "tobacco" content. Go figure! Photo below is from a different stick than the one smoked for this review. Didn't have my camera on me. Visual Appearance: From a SLB of 10. Medium-brown wrapper. Oily appearance. Mostly attractive, the veins and seams aren’t too prominent. Slightly gritty, hard shell-like feel to the wrap Pre-light draw: Firm, but workable. Citrus and cinnamon, with a hint of spice. First 3rd: Light to medium body. Mostly sweet cream, honey, graham. The draw is not great, but the cigar is smoke-able. Second 3rd: Same body. Graham, sweet cream. Not much complexity. Maybe a very slight herbal taste in the background. Thinking rosemary. So far, the burn has been excellent. The draw is starting to bother me now, and I wish there was more body/substance to the smoke, because the flavors are quite excellent as per usual. Last 3rd: The toastiness has made an appearance. The overall flavor profile is still quite sweet, but there's a bit more richness present now. There is a very nice breadiness that I am noticing now, like a good San Francisco sourdough. Final Thoughts: This cigar was good, but it just won't score as high as most of the others I've had from this box. The others have had more complexity, more body, and more generous draws. Additionally, this cigar lacked some of the notes I have picked up in the others, specifically a very interesting and aromatic floral aspect. I still enjoyed the smoke, but can't rate it any higher than an 88 or 89, mainly because of the tight draw. Most cigars have been around 92ish, and the best couple have been 93/94ish. Overall, I highly recommend this cigar. It's a great thing.. A cigar that packs a ton of flavor into a medium-at-most body. I think it could appeal to just about any cigar smoker. Total Smoke Time: 70 minutes.

For this review I took the opportunity to revisit the king of kings from Hoyo de Monterrey: the Double Corona This cigar isn't called a Prominentes for nothing the Double Coronas undoubtedly represent the best of their marca's and are time-honored and honed showpieces of what a Cuban cigar should stand for. This particular example was boxed in 1998 and therefore the tobacco is approximately 20 years old. The 1998 cigar was made with the old Corojo tobacco and it shows in the small veins on the wrapper. Spidery and smooth with a slight reddish tint to it. Smoking time 2:30 of relaxed smoking. Tasting notes: Starting off with honey, sweet caramel, and a touch of dark chocolate and black pepper First third wonderful complex mix of: Honey - 2/5 Sweet creamy caramel - 3/5 Dark Chocolate - 2/5 Black pepper - 1/5 Second third the intensity picks up slightly (always does in older cigars) with some earth notes added Honey - 3/5 Sweet creamy caramel - 3/5 Dark Chocolate - 3/5 Black pepper - 2/5 Earth - 1/5 The final third ended intense and with a small peppermint surprise Honey - 3/5 Sweet caramel - 3/5 Dark Chocolate - 3/5 Black pepper - 2/5 Earth - 1/5 Peppermint - 4/5 at the flareup Rating 9.5/10 This wonderfully complex cigar is slightly more full-bodied than the current examples which are similar but a bit lighter in taste and lack the dark pepper/chocolate touch. A very, very enjoyable smoke.

My first review posted, so be gentle Also posted to /r/cigars (hope that's okay) Preamble So fellow FoH'er Photo_Rob knows why I smoked this, my last EpiEsp in my collection. Inside story. It'll be interesting to see how he reviews the one I just traded his way. Will I buy another box of EpiEsps down the road? Read on. Pairing Paired this cigar up with an absolutely fantastic, complex Scotch; if you love the browns but don't like peat, I highly recommend you pick up a bottle of Craigellachie 13 Year while it's available (it's a limited release). Super complex, nice underripe (in a good way) wide range of fruits from apple to pear to citrus to red fruits, waves and waves of pleasing smoke (not peat smoke!) awesome oaky dry finish that lasts forever. Light up and First Third I used a large diameter punch on this cigar, cutting about a 9mm hole. Draw was good, slight spice and fresh soil. Toasted the foot with my 3-burner butane jet thingie, one quick draw with a flame, and off we go. Didn't get much spice from the first puffs, but instead got what I'd call spicy vanilla mixed with super rich tobacco. Draw was loose (surprising after the pre-fire draw!) and not much smoke production first 3, 4 draws, then it caught up. Vanilla, vanilla vanilla, tobacco sweet baby tobacco. Taste wise, off to a good start. Burn was uneven and needed one correction (here it is corrected). That kinda sucked. But I made myself feel better with a few sips on the Craigellachie, which in its massive complexity, fruity notes and smokey texture was a match made in heaven with the EpiEsp. Second Third You know, everyone goes "graham crackers" when talking about the HdM Epi sticks, esp. the EpiEsp. Do you guys ever eat honey crackers? Is a graham cracker a honey cracker? Because I tasted distinct honey crackers in the second third. Vanilla kind of floated away. Tobacco rich stayed around to say hi to my initial palate, but it too faded a bit. As I enjoyed the Craigellachie, I thought maybe I tasted a bit of red / stone fruit too from the cigar, but that could have been the "sum is greater than the parts" from the whiskey and cigar. Also got a bit of cocoa at this point, the first time I tasted anything resembling chocolate in this particular cigar. Burn was still a bit uneven. One more correction. Draw was okay at this point, not great, not bad, though at one point I thought I had a bit of a plug, but by next puff, it had corrected itself. Final Third (and Final Half of Final Third) Well hello tobacco! You decided to come back for some more taste giving, huh? And dude! (yes, I called the HdM a dude), you're giving me coffee!!?!! Weak as tea coffee, but it's still there and still tastes great. The honey cracker's there. Tobacco sweet made a comeback, and you're giving me weak tea coffee? Merci mon ami! Seriously, the final third -- or at least the first half of the final third -- was the best part of this cigar, taste wise. Complex, pleasing, good times. The complexity of the paired scotch made it super good. But then it kind of all ended too quick, and probably my fault. Because I was digging the tastes in the final third so much, I was drawing a lot on the stick and cooked it. Overheated, nicotine build up, quickly turned from heaven mana to meh this is fucking up my taste buds. One day I'll learn. Here it is just before I removed the 2nd band. Conclusion and Score A really good (not great, not earth shattering, not pillar of what a cigar could be) cigar. Middle and last third were best parts. I did take super brief tasting notes when I had this cigar (24 hours ago), and am relying part on memory, so if I missed any notable flavours, oops. Considering what I paid for them (local YVR B&M prices) I would not buy them again. However, at usual Intl' pricing, heck even First Nations reserve pricing, yes, I will buy these again. I only give numerical scores to coffee - I'm a fucking snob - but I will score the Hoyo de Monterrey on my "what kind of car is it" scoring scale. If a cheapo Don Tomas is a Yugo, and a Cohiba Behike 56 is a, erm, huh... Bentley? I'd score the HdM Epicure Especial I had last night as a... 2005 (when new) BMW 3 series, middle of the road edition. Nice, fast, well appointed, good styling (pre tiny side windows edition), decent value for the price.