Montecristo Especial No. 2 ARS SEP 18 (MCRW)

[Guest Nekhyludov]

Thanks to @cmbarton for the chance to revisit the Especial No. 2!

The first inch is mild and thoroughly cedary. It's pleasant and well balanced, but there aren't many other flavors coming into play at this point. To its credit, it doesn't take any time to warm up; that character presents itself very clearly from the first draw.

The second third begins to show some of what I think is the typically Montecristo DNA - there's a spicy cocoa flavor that emerges, like coffee and black pepper. This sits on top of the still-prominent cedar. The cedar is also heavy on the aroma off the foot. The transition past the midpoint begins to veer into charred, ashtray flavors, which is unfortunately also common to Montes in my experience. The difference here is that that phase is temporary, and into the final third the sharpness remains, but takes on a softer, woody, baking spice kind of flavor.

The performance has been excellent throughout, with the exception of the ash that fell on my shirt ... twice.

All in all, this is a nice cigar with more potential than it delivers on at this young age. But it does seem to provide a fairly comprehensive overview of the varieties of Montecristo experience.

Score: 85