Letting My Mind Wander With A: Montecristo Especial #1

[polarbear]

When I first got into cigars it was all about the Robusto. They were my go too size. I liked the big ring gauge combined with the comparatively short smoking time. As my tastes in cigars matured I found myself drawn to longer and skinnier sticks. Lanceros are usually the thinnest cigar most manufactures make but when combined with the (usually) 7 inch length they provide a great burn time with levels of profile complexity you just don’t find in thicker cigars. As the 60+ Ring Gauge trend looks to be here to stay, I feel it’s important to make room in my budget for a healthy supply of Lanceros. I imagine there are some that are not long for this world as the 60, 70 even 80 ring gauge cigars, that are becoming the rule rather than the exception, gobble up all the tobacco on offer. The Lancero is a classy size. A well-known cigar enthusiast (and forum moderator) often likes to say that he feels smarter when he has a Lancero in his hand. I’m not sure that’s entirely correct but you do feel quite classy, especially when sitting with a bunch of guys who are all smoking 55+ ring gauge sticks. Kinda like sipping good scotch while you’re surrounded by guys sculling pints of beer.

The Lancero is one of the harder sizes to roll and as such often commands the most skilled of rollers and best quality tobaccos. In most cases, the Lancero is the best cigar in any given line and is usually the size that Non Cuban manufactures go for when releasing a special edition or limited run cigar. The blend in a Lancero seldom suits a cigar of larger ring gauge, this makes Lanceros special. The blends are often unique and while manufactures strive to offer similarities between a Lancero and a Robusto of the same line, you will often note flavours that can only be found in the Lancero. That brings me nicely to today’s cigar. The Montecristo Especial #1. As some of you may know, I am a huge Montecristo fan. The Number 2 was the first hand rolled cigar I ever smoked and since then I’ve had the pleasure of sampling most of the regular production lines. The Especial was always a size I’d been intrigued with, so when I was able to afford to drop my coin on a box (the downside of Lanceros? They are expensive) I was quite excited. I’ve been sitting on this box for over a year. So now it’s time to crack it open and see what a long and skinny Monte is all about .

I don’t care what anyone says, the Lancero is a classy looking size. This example is rolled perfectly with no hard spots to be found over its 7 inches and a perfect Pigtail Cap. A quick snip and I take a draw. It offers me a classic Cuban dry draw of mild tobacco and a perfect resistance. I hover the foot of the cigar over a soft flame, blowing on the foot every once in a while before I take my first draw. The first impression of this cigar doesn’t disappoint, giving me cream, vanilla and sweet tobacco notes. A killer opening. I take a sip of my rum, put my feet up and allow my mind to wander

Ah, I do so enjoy a good rum when smoking a good cigar. It wasn’t always the case though. When I was younger I drank pretty much whatever I could afford. I loved Bundaberg (Australian) Rum and Coke though. I drank Giga Litres of the stuff. Loved it! It’s not the best rum out there (there are rum enthusiasts who would argue is not even a rum at all) but I liked it. Still do. But there came a time in my life where I wanted to get away from downing multiple Bundy and Coke cans on a Saturday night and allow my tastes to mature a little. I was still a young man at the time and I’d seen a lot of movies where the hero of a film would sit at a bar drinking some kind of spirit neat. He would sit and sip and look oh so cool as he did. Never wincing or coughing and the liquid slid down his throat. It looked classy, I wanted to look classy. I wanted to sit on my deck and smoke my cigars, savouring the combination of a fine straight spirit and good cigar. I’d read of how certain spirits help to bring out subtle flavours in cigars and was keen to explore this extra dimension to one of the great loves in my life. I went in search of a spirit I could happily drink straight. Scotch was out as didn’t appeal to my tastes, Bourbon and Whiskey weren’t my thing, Vodka was a girls drink and had no flavour to speak of anyway and the only Tequila I could get my hands on NEEDED to be consumed with lime and salt or it would kill you (rule #1 of good spirits, if the bottle it comes in has a hat for its lid, is probably not top shelf). There was good ol’ dependable rum, but anyone who has tried to drink Bundy straight will tell you, it aint that sorta rum. I knew there were other rums out there, but I’d never tried them and didn’t know where to start. That was, until I was introduced to a man named Chris Greenfield.

If ever there was a day that I wondered why I loved Montecristos, today is not one of those days. This Lancero is already kicking goals with full flavoured notes of spice and coffee on my pallet. The spice morphs into sweet tobacco and cream through the nose and leaves me with a long and thick bready finish. The rum helps to turn that bready into a cake note that lingers between puffs. So far, an exceptional cigar.

Chris was a guy about my age. He had two loves in his life. One was fine spirits; the other was his girlfriend Kate. I was introduced to Chris through a friend of mine at a birthday party. I remember walking into the kitchen of this house and seeing a bottle of (I think it was) Zacapa 23 sitting on the bench. The brand and bottle were foreign to me so I was keen to take a closer look. After smelling it and discovering that it smelled like Bundy, but with a truckload more class, I sought out its owner in order to ask/beg him for a taste. I found Chris sitting outside with a glass of rum in his hand, neat. I asked if he was the owner of that delicious smelling bottle inside. Turns out he was. It was his favourite easy drinking rum. This piqued my interests. We sat and talked about rum. I smoked a cigar and drank the glass of Zacapa that Chris had graciously offered me, while the party carried on. As a lover of Cuban Rums, Chris was curious about Cuban cigars. I offered him a Partagas that I’d brought with me as a spare and we sat and smoked. He enjoyed my cigar and I enjoyed his rum. He talked of the world of rums out there, and how awful Bundy was (molasses and boot polish, I think he called it). I enjoyed the Zacapa and mentioned I wanted to get into better rums. He was interested in smoking more cigars, so we made an arrangement to meet up later in the week and introduce each other to the finer points of our passions. Chris had close to 35 different rums at home and at the time I had a few different cigars. I figured we could help to quell each other curiosities. I looked forward to the meeting. We met up a week later at his modest home that he shared with his girlfriend of 10 years, Kate. Kate was his other passion in life. He worshiped this girl. I met her briefly one night when I went round for what became our weekly smoke. Kate had asthma so we agreed to only smoke cigars on nights that she had netball training, so as not to aggravate her condition. That’s the way it went for the next few months. I would head to Chris’s with a pair of cigars and we would open another bottle of rum and talk. It was a great way to spend a Thursday night.

Over halfway in and this cigar is still proving to be one of the best Montecristos I’ve smoked in a long time. The spice from the beginning has turned into a sweet cake note with spicy tobacco through the nose. The finish becomes a tad dry but still lingers for a while with its toasted bready notes for me to savour. The draw and burn are spot on. This is turning into a classic Cuban Lancero and I’m loving every minute of it.

Over the course to the next few months I got to sample a great number of Rums, all while smoking good cigars. It was a match made in heaven really. Havana Club, Diplomatico, Zacapa, Bacardi, Appleton, Plantation and others I can’t remember and haven’t seen since. Chris would educate me about the finer points of the spirits he enjoyed and I would reciprocate, talking about tobacco and the nuances it can offer. Chris had one of the most refined pallets I’ve ever seen. He would pull flavours like banana, coconut, sweet potato, apple and pear from rums while I sat there finding sweetness and spice. He would push me to refine and develop my pallet. “What kind of spice? A pepper spice? Chilli Spice? Sweet baking type spice?” In a lot of ways, he was the one who taught me to articulate the flavours I got from cigars as well. It wasn’t just rums either, the odd glass of Red Wine also met its maker, although, that was on nights we just want to drink something easy going, smoke a cigar and shoot the ****. Chris and I both agreed, dropping $80 on a bottle of rum wasn’t too bad, but anything over $60 for a bottle of Red Wine was ludicrous. Through this shared passion we developed a close friendship and our conversation strayed from the normal topics of rum and cigars and, eventually, onto life in general. Chris even discussed his plans to ask Kate to marry him in the near future. He talked of his plans to settle down and start a family with the woman he loved. I was single at the time, but it was nice to hear someone speak of such simple, yet meaningful, dreams in this day and age of “bigger and better”. We were both simple men. A fine spirit, the company of a woman we love and a good cigar was all that was needed to achieve happiness in our lives. Chris had this fire in his eyes whenever we talked of the future. He knew where he wanted to go, and was prepared to do anything he had to in order to get there. I was still very much lost in my life, with little direction or plans for the future. I admired Chris for his direction, his passion and his love of life. A few months later, that all changed. I was away at work and received an email from a friend of mine, Matt. He was the one who introduced me to Chris. He said I needed to call home as soon as I could. I waited in line for the phone booth and rang him. Matt informed me that Chris was in a bad way. Kate had suffered a serious asthma attack and didn’t have her inhaler. Kate was dead.

As the cigar enters its last phase, any fears I had about the final third not living up to what came before it is quickly gone as the classic Monte flavours I dream about roll in. Coffee, cream and sweet spice both on the pallet and through the nose. A touch of leather is there too. All perfectly balanced, ensuring one does not overpower the other. The finish is a touch shorter now and gives me a strong black coffee note as I burn my way closer and closer to the nub.

2 weeks after that phone call I stepped off the plane from work. My first stop was to see Chris. I’d missed the funeral by 2 days and, despite my calls, hadn’t heard from Chris since before I left. I knocked on the door and when Chris opened it I was greeted with the shell of my friend. He was unshaven, unkempt and quite drunk. He looked at me and said “I’m not the best company right now”. I walked inside and said “if I wanted good company I would’ve stayed at home”. He shut the door behind me and went back to the kitchen table. His once great rum collection had been reduced a bunch of empty bottles, strewn about the kitchen. I sat opposite him and he poured me a glass. “How are you doing?” I asked. He gulped down his drink and said “beware the grieving man and his bottle” as he poured himself another drink. We sat in silence for a while. I watched the man I once knew to be filled with life sit in front of me, consumed by his grief. Lost in a sea of sadness and rum. I tried to talk to him, tried to get a glimpse of the man I used to know, but he just sat in silence, downing glass after glass of high quality spirit. The substance in his glass was the only spirit he had left. I grieved for my friend. For the sadness that consumed him. The dreams that had been taken from him. For the emptiness that now filled him. I sat and nursed my drink as Chris threw himself into glass after glass. Each time looking as if the next bottle would hold the answer of what he would do now. I did not know what to say to my friend. I did not know what I could say that would make him see that everything would be ok. He looked at me and I knew he didn’t want to hear it anyway. The emptiness he felt had consumed him and he was happy to let it. Time passed, I’m not sure how long. The silence we shared was deafening. I just sat there, feeling helpless as my friend descended further and further into his grief, and his bottle. After a time he got up, “lock up when you’re done”. He grabbed what was left of his bottle and went to his room, leaving me alone at his table, that first drink he poured me still sitting in front of me. I sat there, hoping he would come back and sit with me, hoping he would talk to me, allow me to help him pull himself out of this pit he was in, but he didn’t, I just waited. I left. When I returned the next day, the doors were locked and the windows closed. I went back day after day. Always finding a house that was not welcoming visitors. Eventually, I called his brother, to see if he had heard from Chris. No-one had. His car was gone and some bags packed. Chris had left.

I take a final draw on my Monte before putting it down. There is no heat or harshness to be found. Impressive considering this cigar has less than 2 years of age on it. I do not wish to part with it, but there isn’t a whole lot left to smoke. An exceptional cigar that I’m sad to see the end of. Smoke is pouring off the foot as it slowly goes out. I wish all Montecristos were of this standard. I finish my glass of rum and savour its profile as I think back to Chris. I got a letter from him a week or so after he left town. He said he was ok and not to worry, he just needed some time to himself. He moved around the country for a while and eventually wound up back on his folks Dairy farm in Tasmania. I caught up with him a couple of years later when he came home to see his brother. He showed glimpses of the man I remembered, but that love of life I’d so admired him for was gone. It’s been 5 years since Kate’s death and Chris still mourns his lost love every hour of his days. Haunted by what could have been. Of the road that was taken from him. I pour myself another glass and raise it to the memory of Kate and the man who loved her. I take a sip and think try to place a flavour I’m getting. “What kind of spice? A pepper spice? Chilli Spice? Sweet baking type spice?” I smile; it’s a Sweet Baking Spice.

[jeremyk]

Nice review a good read

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Habana Mike]

Really enjoy reading these. Sorry to hear about Kate and Chris though.

I had just happened to fire up one of these before getting on the site so was smoking along with you!

[Optic101]

Very nice report, great cigar. A pleasure to read.

Thanks.

[investandprosper]

So sorry to hear of Kate and Chris. Thank you for sharing the story and your review of a great cigar.

[ElJefe]

Wow mate!! Excellent writing there - one gets truly drawn in to the story of Chris and Kate oly to have your heart sink as you reach the final conclusion. Absolutely love Lanceros but haven't had a cuban Lancero yet. Still debating whether to drop my coin on the Monte Especial 1 or 2 but I think your review may have just nailed down my decision.

Superb Mate and thanks for sharing.

[jvel79]

Very heart felt story. Thank you for sharing, as well as a wonderful review.

[Rye]

I absolutely love the format of your reviews and woven tales.

I can't wait until the next installment!

[CaptainQuintero]

Wonderful read man thank you for sharing these glimpses

[cottierm]

Sad story beautifully told. Thanks for it.

[TypicalSituation]

Wonderful read man thank you for sharing these glimpses

What he said.

[Pedro2486]

Damn man, right in the feels. It's gonna be a melancholy cigar for me when I get home tonight.

Great as always mate. Keep it up

[elam370]

Your stories are fantastic man. Absolutely fantastic.

[...]

Old thread revival alert... ?

Very touching story, many thanks for sharing in such beautiful storytelling style

[Cep]

Wow.. thanx for that.   (Sad as it was)  

I do hate the pain and anguish that we go through over women.   Really wish it wasn't so..

 

[planetary]

Didn't see this until now.  A terrific review and touching story.  Thank you.

[Ken Gargett]

really good stuff. very sad for your friend. i think he would have appreciated.