Montecristo No.4 (1970s - Aged)

[JohnS]

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!

 

 

 

 

[Luca]

Thanks @JohnS for taking the time to review the MC4! 

[JohnS]

That's the appeal of this noble pursuit of ours, dear friend. You age your cigars and the next one out of the box can bring forth surprises! One is always learning.

[PapaDisco]

Any info on what conditions this Monte was laid down in?  Stored in its box, airflow, vacuum packed, or on a shelf?  Would be very interested to know.

Most of my stock I'm 'aging' just to that 5-7 year mark.  Easy target, and you know for near certain what you're going to get.

But . . . I would really like to pick a corner of the cellar and lay down a couple dozen cabs of 50 for 20-30 years, and to pass on to the next generation.  Knowing how others made such long term commitment work out would be educational.  For now, my few really long term boxes I plastic wrap (a la Nino) in order to minimize air flow and vaporization of volatile oils and flavor compounds.  Seems sensible to me, but then I hear about a friend smoking from their dad's pre-war collection that was simply stored in a cellar for 70 years!  

[Luca]

32 minutes ago, PapaDisco said:

Any info on what conditions this Monte was laid down in?  Stored in its box, airflow, vacuum packed, or on a shelf?  Would be very interested to know.

Most of my stock I'm 'aging' just to that 5-7 year mark.  Easy target, and you know for near certain what you're going to get.

But . . . I would really like to pick a corner of the cellar and lay down a couple dozen cabs of 50 for 20-30 years, and to pass on to the next generation.  Knowing how others made such long term commitment work out would be educational.  For now, my few really long term boxes I plastic wrap (a la Nino) in order to minimize air flow and vaporization of volatile oils and flavor compounds.  Seems sensible to me, but then I hear about a friend smoking from their dad's pre-war collection that was simply stored in a cellar for 70 years!  

I can ask the source I purchased this MC4 off and let you know. Most of the aged cigars I purchase from this particular source are from other collectors and I was assured that provenance is not an issue. I do trust this person.

Surely if this was a cigar not stored in the correct conditions...that it would smoke poorly and taste horrible like a Henri Winterman!?

Thoughts everyone? I've smoked dried out/poorly stored cigars...I would honestly rather smoke dried leaves instead!

[PapaDisco]

2 hours ago, Luca said:

I can ask the source I purchased this MC4 off and let you know. Most of the aged cigars I purchase from this particular source are from other collectors and I was assured that provenance is not an issue. I do trust this person.

Surely if this was a cigar not stored in the correct conditions...that it would smoke poorly and taste horrible like a Henri Winterman!?

Thoughts everyone? I've smoked dried out/poorly stored cigars...I would honestly rather smoke dried leaves instead!

Ha ha!    I'm sure it was stored properly and of true provenance.

The challenge for us cigar aficionados, is that "correct conditions" means quite a few different things.  We've all heard the arguments that "air circulation is important for aging" which is the antithesis of what the Shrink Wrap Crowd believes.   

I'm already assuming that this Monte 4 was of correct provenance and properly stored (or rather, 'stored with care').  What I'm curious about is what those conditions were (for my own edification).  For me, I plastic wrap acclimatized boxes, put them in a sealed tupperdore with Bovedas, and stash them in a temperature stable cellar; but I've yet to have a box get to 20 years, let alone 40!   So I'm always curious to hear from those that went before just what they did, and how those sticks tasted down the line.  I think most commercial programs simply let the boxes age in the same storage conditions they use for current boxes, so no barriers to air other than the box itself.  Imagine the PCC program, with several hundred boxes of HDM Churchills in a stack, on a shelf, in a warehouse.  I would guess that the boxes in the center of the pile would taste differently in 20 years than the boxes on top, but that's just an uneducated guess by me!   

[TheMonk]

Nice job!

[Corneighdo]

Great review. Although the smoke wasn't that memorable, hopefully the time spent was enjoyable.

I recently had a MC4 from 2006 that was gifted to me by a generous BOTL, and that flavor was perfect. Could it have gone longer, sure, but I loved the flavor at that age - dark cocoa, dark roasted coffee, so good.

[Joshtupps]

Great review!