Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona UPO AGO 20 (XNYRW6)

[saltbox]

This box has been resting for over a year, not really intentionally but because it's just not as easy to carve out the time necessary to appreciate a DC. I have been making more of an effort to rotate through everything I have and sample everything at least once though, so here I am with a Hoyo DC.

First third: opens with a nice toasty cream, cedar, cloves and spices. There's a nice vanilla cream note in the aroma of the smoke coming off the foot and it appears on the palate after about an inch of smoking. There's a touch of a floral note on the retrohale that appears near the end of the third.

Middle third: vanilla cream and oatmeal cookie, a specific note I don't think I've noticed since a Fonseca No. 1 several months ago. The spices have faded into the background a bit, leaving a very mellow, peaceful smoke.

Last third: the cream picks up an almost flour-y texture, kind of like a roux that hasn't been properly cooked out. Underneath the cream there's the familiar cedar, vanilla, cloves, and a bit of pencil lead.

Overall: not an exciting smoke but a thoroughly enjoyable and soothing smoke. A solid execution of the seemingly classic Hoyo flavors. 89/100