Montecristo New York – A Cigar That Does the City Well

It’s nice when friends give you cigars.  Particularly if they are expensive cigars.  Even better if they are good cigars.  And best if they are good inexpensive cigars.  Today’s cigar was a gift from a new friend.  She had just received a shipment of special sticks and I was the happy recipient of this one.  Montecristo has been making cigars for the U.S. market for quite some time.  They are now a part of Altadis, the large tobacco marketing and manufacturing giant.  This means that they have access to great tobacco and great cigar makers.  When they decide to release a special edition it should be something special.

When you first look at this cigar you can’t help but be impressed.  It is large, 6 x 60.  And it is a box pressed torpedo.  My first comment when I unwrapped it was that this is a ‘pretty’ cigar.  It looks beautiful.  The light brown Ecudorian Habano wrapper seems to be perfect.  It is filled evenly and there are virtually no veins on the leaf.  I had no problems clipping and lighting.

The draw was not as open as I would have expected and I was afraid it would go out.  But that never happened.  The draw, in fact, did open up about halfway through.  It held a tight and even edge, but the nice light grey ash fell a little sooner that I would have expected.  But, I am finding fault with little things because this is a very nice cigar.

I thought it burned cool and was a mild, light smoke.  At first, I found a mocha cream.  The mocha faded about a third of the way in and was replaced by a nutmeg taste.  Finally, in the last third there was a spiciness that wasn’t pepper but closer to cinnamon.  I enjoyed this cigar but, while the flavors were complex, I expected more.

At $14 this is an expensive stick.  It is very well made and has good flavors.  It is unusual in shape and its box press.  It provided over an hour and a half of enjoyable smoking.  Yet, when I spend that kind of money I am looking for something more memorable.  It’s hard to mark this cigar down, yet, it’s hard for it to score highly.  If you are lucky enough to get one of these I’m sure you will enjoy it.