Review: Montecristo No. 2

[CoCigarSmoker]

This review was done with only a glass of water and for whatever reason I didn't get around to eating much of anything for lighting up the cigar. That being said, WOW, what a great cigar and a welcome experience after the other day. This definitely helped end my days off this week on a great note. Now to get out and celebrate St. Patty's day with some car bombs!!

Montecisto No. 2

Construction

I must say, WOW, just WOW. The wrapper on this cigar just glimmered in the sun, it was almost magical. There was a perfect oily sheen that ran over the entire wrapper and made the beautiful deep brown (dark Colorado) shade wrapper just pop! The foot of the cigar was well packed and there wasn’t even a thought of a twig or stick. The triple cap was three layers and well adhered to the perfectly constructed top of the torpedo. The symmetry of this cigar was breathtaking. After my recent short comings with smoking a “sick” JL No. 2 I was praying to God for a great experience. Alas, I think I have found my utopia. What a beauty of a cigar.

Pre-light

The cold draw on this cigar is to say the least, very MONTECRISTO! Big big flavors of barnyard, coffee, subdued cocoa without any of the sweetness, and a warm creamy coating of leather and earth! These flavors are BIG and they are BEAUTIFUL. Part of me didn’t want to light the cigar and yet another part of me was just dying to watch these flavors and aromas transform into the first 1/3. I would characterize the draw on this cigar to be ideal for me. I’d say this is just about as perfect of a draw as they come.

First Third

My God here we go. Now boys and girls hold on because if you’ll allow me to paraphrase the movie ‘300’…..THIS IS CUBA!!!!!! Man we are off and running. This was the moment I have been waiting for. This makes the planets align, the sirens sing, and lastly it makes for a very very happy Seth haha. I’m greeted or should I say embraced with a beautiful soliloquy of slowly roasted tobacco woven into a rich creamy bouquet of Cuban barnyard. There are notes of coffee and leather and they are all tied together by an earthy complexity that makes for these opening notes to be some of the best I’ve had. I don’t know about you guys, but when I think about sitting down and relaxing and smoking a cigar this is what I always hope for. I’m not by nature a fast smoker, and my draws are normally done in twos every 60 or so seconds sometimes 90 seconds. But this cigar, damn it, I just don’t want to put down. As we roll through the first third the ash is holding on nicely and is a very nice creamy grey color with black throughout. The contrast between the ash and the oily shine of this wrapper makes for something an artist would draw his inspiration from, what a treat! Now as my thoughts wonder I must digress from this review and bring you along for a journey into why I smoke cigars and where I venture to find my joy in this hobby. For me, to smoke a cigar isn’t something I favor while engaging in other activities. I find that smoking a cigar is an engagement all of its own, requiring total mind and body attention. For me it’s taking the moment to remove yourself from the business of life, the hustle and flow, the grind, the daily monotony. I find that each time I walk to my humble humidor and select from within a gloriously crafted hand rolled masterpiece I’m transported back into a similar time. I time where the meaning of life was found within the details.

I imagine the old country as I set out my three long matches one by one. I try and make every moment count as I appreciate the wrapper, slowly and precisely snip the cap, and begin drawing during the pre-light. I try to imagine if you will what it would have been like decades or centuries past to be in Havana, to hear the ocean, to feel the warm humidity of its precipitation, and to rally behind what it truly means to relax and enjoy the world as it turns. How can one do this while focusing on anything other than the cigar itself and what it brings to you? Now after I have drowned you all in this odd digression masquerading as a prose I’m sure you are all asking yourselves one thing, what is the meaning of life? Well my compadres, I’m sure it’s simple but I haven’t figured it out yet, sorry lol.

Now returning to the issue at hand, my beautiful Monte No. 2. The floral nature of this cigar shouldn’t be confused to mean that there are any notes of flowers, au contraire, I simply mean that the notes and complexities coat your mouth as if put together in a perfectly balanced and symmetrical arrangement similar in comparison to a florist preparing an arrangement of flowers. The notes of barnyard and earth are very forward with the other notes floating towards the rear of the flavor profile. This profile is what I have always expected and appreciated about the different vitola’s of Montecristo that I have enjoyed before. However, I must say this is most likely one of the best Montecristo’s I have ever enjoyed. I find this cigar in its current form to be medium in body, perhaps even on the lighter side of this scale. At the completion of most of my draws I find a lingering taste on my tongue of roasted coffee. This is a pleasant thing to enjoy and it almost cleanses my palate before the next draw as if making my mouth ready for what this cigar has next in store for me. I’ve had to make a few slight corrections to the burn as of this time in the first third but I will confess, I don’t believe that I did a proper job lighting a small portion of the foot of the cigar. Perhaps my anticipation and excitement in preparing this cigar got the best of me and I have no doubt this was “operator error”.

Ending remarks of the first third: This cigar is smoking like a 90+ for me right now. The cigar continues to produce notes of barnyard and roasted tobacco and leathery earthy cream. The burn is relatively straight and the viscosity of the smoke would be similar again to a good Pinot Noir, smooth and watery but packed with flavor and buttery goodness.

Second Third

The ash held on to the opening of the second third and I would estimate that it was just shy of 2”. Initial notes continue just the same as the first third with that nice creamy barnyard aroma matched only by smooth roasted coffee and tobacco. The leather and earth are still present but slightly more subdued. The second third is not performing at the caliber of the first third. The flavors are muted just a hair by a slight harshness. This isn’t anything I’m concerned with and I’m relatively confident it’s just a slight bit of trouble we will work through in no time. The burn has corrected itself wonderfully and is not what I would call razor sharp and consistent but it is fairly even. The harshness is pretty much gone by the halfway point of the second third. I feel that now after working through this the harshness is perhaps more closely described as a nicotine bite or spice about the cigar. There are still big notes of barnyard and coffee but the cream has drastically gone down. We lost the ash for a second time thus far at about ¾” in length. The cigar is still smoking very well but this second third is definitely not blowing my dress up in the same way the first third performed.

Final Third

As we enter the final third the flavors are more muted. The first third is definitely showing as by far the best part of this cigar. I’m still thoroughly enjoying this cigar, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I miss the complexity and character of the first third. Notes of barnyard are still present, but I’m having a harder time locating and tasting other notes or aromas. I must say friends, don’t misunderstand that in this third of the cigar the barnyard aroma and flavor is very enjoyable. I’m just missing out on a little bit of the Cuban creamy complexity that we all know and love. The cigar is still performing well and this last third is definitely better than the second third. It may be due to my empty stomach, but the strength and nicotine have picked up slightly. I’d say based on how my head feels right now this cigar is moving towards the stronger end of the medium scale and dabbling just slightly on the med-full side of things. Still nothing when compared to most NC med or med-full smokes, but still. Then again, I didn’t eat anything today either. Potato, Pot-ah-to lol. I ran out of pictures, but this cigar was nubbed and the final third did end on a good note. One re-light was necessary but did not affect flavor at all. If anything the final portion of the last third was better than the beginning!

Overall, I’d rate this cigar 87-88 pts. If the first third would have continued throughout the entirety of the cigar it easily would have been 90-91+ but alas it did drop off just a bit. That being said, I feel overwhelmingly compelled to purchase a box. Granted this cigar requires more time than some, I’d love to have many of these on hand for when I have 1.5-2 hrs or so to sit and enjoy.

[CoCigarSmoker]

Forgot to include the total time spent smoking this wonderful stick was 1 hr. 45 minutes, which for me is slightly on the fast side. All I can figure is that I powered through the first third because of how great it truly was.

Cheers,

Seth

[zrotfus]

Wonderful review! Just got a fresh box of these PSP and my lord I do not think I will make it through the requisite 30 days resting time with all of them intact...

[mi000ke]

Great reveiw! How old was the cigar? I have a box of these that are coming on a year and you're making my mouth water.

[torsion]

Seth - got to say I really do enjoy reading your reviews brother. Makes a dull day in the office all that much more bearable Makes me want to break into my box of HQ Monte 2's which was one of the first boxes I got from FoH last Oct and resting in the cooler since! Also to note one of the only boxes for some reason I've not sampled from yet!

[AlBaron]

Seth,

great review, thank you!

Can you tell us what was the year/box code of your cigar?

Alex

[CoCigarSmoker]

Hey guys,

Unfortunately these were purchased as singles and I wasn't able to get box codes for any of my recent smokes. However, I have some stuff arriving from our host and rest assured I will always include the box code with any review where I have access to it!

Thanks for reading the review and I hope everyone breaks out a good Monte 2 sometime soon.

Cheers,

Seth

[RijkdeGooier]

great review!

[AlBaron]

Hey guys,

Unfortunately these were purchased as singles and I wasn't able to get box codes for any of my recent smokes. However, I have some stuff arriving from our host and rest assured I will always include the box code with any review where I have access to it!

Thanks for reading the review and I hope everyone breaks out a good Monte 2 sometime soon.

Cheers,

Seth

I have a box received from the hosts 21 days ago... 1 more week to go...

[dflan82]

Nice review Seth! Reminds me of my first Monte 2...and yes I did run out and order a box right away.

Thanks for posting this bud!

[JohnS]

Seth,

This is truly a pleasure to read. I gain a lot of satisfaction from reading your reviews, especially the passion and joy that goes into your cigar smoking. I've only had one Monte No.2 and I had issues drawing enough smoke from it and it lacked flavour, I did not enjoy it at all. However, your review makes me look forward to the next one.

cheers,

John.

[Quint]

Another excellent review, well done you had my mouth watering. I haven't smoked a Monte 2 in some time now I have the urge.

[Hunter1974]

only had one of these and it was perfection

[Hash]

i found the draw to be on the loose side , but still an all time favourite for many. Good review.

[fdm]

Great review Seth!

[JMacSr]

Great review

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk