Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure Especial TOS Oct 16 weekend review competition

[David88]

One thing I will never get used to with living in Egypt is working on a Sunday. Even with the weekend beginning on Friday I just can’t get my head around waking up and getting out the door for work knowing it’s a Sunday. With this in mind it’s a great excuse to get out for a cigar and coffee to unwind in the evening. 

I bought a box of especials a few months ago and the few I had sampled previously had been okay, but nothing to really shout about. Hopefully this will be an improvement.

Appearance: the wrapper is quite pale, but I tend to prefer this with HdM. There are a few prominent veins but the cigar feels well packed with no soft spots along the length. It won’t win any beauty pageants but everything is where it needs to be. 

The first third opened very mild. A very creamy smoke with some hints of wood and clove. Lots of smoke being produced and the burn was excellent. 

Into the second third and the body built up to just a touch below medium. The cream moved towards the background with the wood and ‘forest floor’ becoming more pronounced. There was a slight pepper on the retrohale but this was coming in and out. 

The body remained just below medium in the final third. The cream had gone but the wood flavour was coupled with what I would describe as a mint or menthol character. 

Overall a good smoke. It showed some signs of youth but it didn’t detract from the cigar overall. The burn was excellent throughout and it produced a good amount of smoke. It will be interesting to see what happens to these with more time down but if you are contemplating picking some up then I would recommend at least picking up a 10 box. They’re noticeably different to the epicure 1s (which are my to go Hoyo) but I’m glad I have these in my rotation. 

A solid 89/90 pointer

 

 

[TheMonk]

Good job!