Montecristo No.4 REB Oct. 08

[MrGlass]

This stick was from a HQ box ordered about a month ago as a gift to myself for my birthday/surviving India. I originally meant to try this review on the weekend, but tonight ended up being my first opportunity. This is my first attempt at a review, so please be gentle

Construction was good, although there was a rather firm spot about a third of the way up from the cap. Wrapper was dark, with a nice oily sheen to it.

Clipped the cap, and found the pre-draw to be a little tight, but nothing to worry about just yet. Sweet, almost chocolaty flavour.

First Third:

There were occasional hints of cocoa, but the flavour was predominately toast, with bursts of something salty. The more I tried to figure out what to compare this too, the more lost I became. Decided to give up and enjoy it instead. Generous volumes of smoke were being produced, making it a most pleasant experience.

Second Third:

The occasional hints of cocoa were replaced with vanilla. Toast aspect remained, but with a caramel edge. Partway through, it developed into a leathery flavour with a spicy edge to it. At this point, I encountered some minor tunneling, but it was corrected with the lighter and didn't return.

Final Third:

This was a bizarre experience. The final third opened with a real earthy flavour. It began to develop some harshness, as both it and I struggled to keep it going through that tight spot. After we made it through, the earthy flavour remained with traces of caramel again appearing from time to time. Then all of a sudden, the flavour changed again back to its original toast, although this piece was a little burnt. The toast remained through to the end.

Smoke time was about 1 hr 20 min.

Notes: Cigar reviews are hard, and I have more respect for those that do them more frequently. Trying to anaylse the flavours and put names to them is much more difficult than I realised. Overall though, I'm glad for the experience. This was the first time I have found a cigar to make a circle back to its original flavour, and I'm sure that the only reason I realised was because I was paying so much attention to it all and taking notes throughout. Thanks Pres for providing the encouragement to give this a shot. Will definately be giving this another crack later.

Nick.

[MaltPointer]

Very nice review, Nick. You're spot on with your comment about how "actively" smoking a cigar, and thinking through the flavors you're experiencing, can make it a more enjoyable experience. Even though it's been a long time since I posted a review here, I still find that simply thinking about how I would review a cigar I'm smoking brings me more into the moment, and I notice things that might have slipped past me.

And I've learned a ton from reading the reviews posted here by the more experienced hands . . . it's always fun to add to my inventory of flavor descriptors.

Thanks for posting . . . and keep 'em coming.

[reg]

reviews are tough, thought it is clear that HQ monte 4s are very pretty