Montecristo No. 1 TRS JUL 20 (XNYRW4)

[saltbox]

Decided to pull one from a box with about 9 months of rest at 62RH to compare against the No. 1 I smoked earlier out of the Christmas sampler and try a more direct comparison of the dry boxing vs. actual rest. There was a noticeable crack in the wrapper so some rolling paper and cigar glue were applied to prevent bigger issues later.

First third: opens up immediately into a great blend of milk chocolate, cream, cedar, and coffee. Over the course of the third, the chocolate becomes richer and takes on a more dark chocolate note. There's definitely much more intense chocolate here than in the dryboxed Christmas sampler sample.

Middle third: dark chocolate, cedar, and cream. There's cinnamon and baking spices on the finish. I don't have a lot of experience with No. 1's yet, but so far I've found them to be less creamy and a bit more rustic than the No. 2.

Last third: a bit of coffee cream joins the profile, but otherwise more of that same tasty dark chocolate and cream driven profile.

Overall: again, in my limited experience, I've found the No. 1 to be less decadent than the No. 2s I've had, though I think the box of 2's I've been smoking out of have both more rest and more box age on them. 88/100

[ElPuro]

Huge fan of the 1. Great sticks and size.

[Nevrknow]

Great review. The sampler was my first ever no 1 and damn, it hit home. Loved it. Shooting now for 21 number ones. 

[Juliano88]

A 21 box is next on my hit list. 

[karp]

Nice review. These are smoking great - I get similar core flavours but more biscuit and lemon peel than the no2s.. 

[OrangePaw]

18 minutes ago, Juliano88 said:

A 21 box is next on my hit list. 

Going on my radar as well.

[Juliano88]

14 minutes ago, OrangePaw said:

Going on my radar as well.

Crazy how I thought my list would take me years to fulfill lol. Running out of space now.