Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas BSE SEP 23 (FreeOct24)

[TacoSauce]

This was a pricey stick and tough to come by. I patiently waited as it sat in my humidor. Finally it passed the one-year mark from the box date and I was ready to give it a try. Fortune smiled upon me as I found a free Saturday where the weather was perfect and the neighbors were all away on trips, so I could freely smoke in the backyard. 

The stick looked beautiful and the old-style HdM band looked really nice. The aroma off the wrapper was the usual hay note that most CCs have, but maybe a little darker and a little more burnt. Not much from the cold draw which may have been due to restricted airflow. While it was tight, I felt that I was getting some level of airflow.

After lighting, I immediately got flavors of nada and nothing. No smoke was making it through the cigar. That being said, the foot of the cigar was burning beautifully producing decent smoke with a tight burn line. You can't have it all, I reminded myself as I watched the unsmokable cigar burn evenly. After a bit, I got greedy. I used the PerfectDraw. Still no smoke. I used it again, but deeper this time. Still no smoke. I tired again, DEEPER! No change. By the end I had inserted the entire length of the PerfectDraw into the cigar and had reamed out a huge channel through 3/4 of the cigar's length. All this work improved the draw not one bit.

By this point the cigar had already burned down by an inch, and I had yet to get even single puff of smoke. Using my fingers I gently pressed down the length of the cigar looking for hard spots. While I was expecting that the hard spots would be towards the foot where the PerfectDraw couldn't reach, instead I found that the area near the band was still rock-hard even through I had already removed a significant amount of leaf in that area. So I again used the perfect draw at the head of the cigar, but this time I inserted it offset from center so as to ream a new channel away from the existing one. I was able to insert the PerfectDraw in this manner without issue, however as I pulled it out, the wrapper cracked and exploded.

Even after all this I still couldn't get any smoke to draw through the cigar, but I could tell that the recent damage had breeched the binder and caused a airflow leak. Looking around for a fix, I grabbed a leaf off a tree and used copious amounts of cigar clue to try to affix my own "custom wrapper" to salvage the stick.

Now we're talking! With this fix in place, and despite half of the cigar already having burned away, I was finally able to get my first tiny, wispy puff of actual smoke. It had notes of tar and ash. Hints of burnt tires and ass were also evident.

My patience ended and I tossed it. $60 directly in the trash.

Rating: -

[loose_axle]

This was sad to read. I'm really sorry you had such a frustrating experience after so much hype and build up. 

[Lfhard]

I was really hoping for a positive review since I haven’t touched my box yet. Was hoping it would encourage me to crack it open. Nope I’ll wait a little longer. This last part did give me a chuckle. Sorry it was bad experience for such a costly cigar. 

59 minutes ago, TacoSauce said:

It had notes of tar and ash. Hints of burnt tires and ass were also evident.

[TacoSauce]

51 minutes ago, loose_axle said:

This was sad to read. I'm really sorry you had such a frustrating experience after so much hype and build up. 

Indeed, but isn't this the way with CCs? I have one more of these in the humidor. I'll wait for a sunny day next summer and try again!

[loose_axle]

1 hour ago, TacoSauce said:

Indeed, but isn't this the way with CCs? I have one more of these in the humidor. I'll wait for a sunny day next summer and try again!

Yep, I had a Cohiba Lancero for the first time in my life last week. Like sucking for air in a vacuum and akin to tossing gold bullion overboard on a sunny day in the Aegean. So I hear you! 

[TacoSauce]

37 minutes ago, loose_axle said:

akin to tossing gold bullion overboard on a sunny day in the Aegean.

Nice! An apt expression.

[archosaur]

Sorry to hear about this terrible experience, but your matter-of-fact style of narration and creative use of local flora had me cracking up big time. We've all been there (well, maybe not exactly there)...way to have fun with it!

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

[teamrandr]

Unfortunately not that uncommon.  

[Gubbins]

Why is it always the part around the band that is like concrete. Never seems to be anywhere else. Do they not learn?

[TacoSauce]

24 minutes ago, Gubbins said:

Why is it always the part around the band that is like concrete. Never seems to be anywhere else

Rob asked Hamlet this question on one of their YouTube videos. I recall Hamlet's answer was, "inexperienced or lazy rollers." With the exodus of people from the country due to the poor living conditions, inexperienced and lazy rollers might be the only people left on the island! 

[ThePolskiOgorki]

Painful to read. Better luck next time.

[TacoSauce]

It was pointed out to me that @Monterey posted a review of this same cigar in July. His experience appeared to be a bit better than mine. If reading my post made you sad, here is your happy chaser: https://www.fohcigars.com/forum/topic/159582-hoyo-de-monterey-double-corona-mar-15-vacuum-sealed-edition-ffsjul24/

[Li Bai]

On 9/25/2024 at 11:08 PM, TacoSauce said:

Rob asked Hamlet this question on one of their YouTube videos. I recall Hamlet's answer was, "inexperienced or lazy rollers."

El famoso zapatón !

[RDB]

Really sucks. DCs should be the best of their marca and quality control should match that. Infuriating!