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Montecristo No.4 (1970s - Aged) Review Vitola: Marevas 42 ring gauge x 129 mm or 5.1 inches It's a special thing, to devote yourself, at times, to smoking a cigar, even if it's your weekly 'timeout' routine, it's another thing when the cigar you smoke is 40 years old. I must thank and acknowledge @Luca for gifting me this Montecristo No.4 to smoke recently. I've never had the opportunity to smoke a cigar even 20 years old. The question to consider, in regards to its age, is whether it had peaked. There were clues, during the cold draw...firstly, the wrapper was brittle and had frayed at the foot of the cigar a little, secondly, the aroma was muted. Upon lighting, it was easy to tell, that this had peaked. There was still faint elements of your standard Montecristo cocoa and nut, but no cream. The best way to compare it is to take your morning espresso coffee and add a litre of water to it. There'd still be a coffee taste there, just nowhere near as strong. In the middle third, the faint elements of Monte cocoa and nut had dissipated. There was no cream texture, no coffee elements and no toasted tobacco flavour either. It wasn't terrible enough to pitch, but it was smooth, overly smooth. The last third of a cigar is usually when it's at its strongest, was that the case here? The answer is no. The most flavoursome part of this cigar was the first third, the last third was merely an extension of the middle third in regards to flavour/s. Still, I'm grateful to @Luca for having this opportunity to smoke this cigar. Aging cigars is truly a subjective experience. A little while after having this Montecristo No.4 from the 1970s, I sampled a Romeo y Julieta 130 Aniversario cigar from 2005 that was so strong, I swear I could easily leave it another 5 to 8 years until I'd sample another if I had a box. I couldn't recall the last time I had so much water to clear my palate!