Montecristo No 2 - LRE JUL 09 (SMRW)

[Bucky McSwensen]

My unicorn single drawer is an unorganized mess thanks to all the great box passes and trades.  As a new habit of culling the herd and also treating myself since why cant today be special I decide its time to slit this magical horsey's throat and burn its corpse.  I have no idea where this came from but thank you whoever you are.  This is the oldest monte 2 I have tried and it looks and smells great.

Cold draw is chocolate and cinnamon with some light roast coffee.

First puff is all spiced cream.  I love it.  Continues with some light roast coffee notes and a bit of chocolate cookie.  Like a stale oreo (but in a good way).  Not too much sweetness but its there.

Second third gets more robust with the spiced cream and coffee and still maintains a bit of chocolate in the background.  I am getting a bit of pepper and cinnamon as well.  After taste is divine.  After the midpoint I get more robust tobacco flavors.  This thing is smooth.

Final third loses the cream and continues with rich tobacco and coffee.  Little blasts of chocolate from time to time.  Not much sweetness left but a decent amount of spice.  I smoke this down to the nub and really enjoyed it.

I have had a few monte 2 but all have been under 2 years of age.  They haven't really been great but also havent been bad, just a standard pyramid.  This one blew them out of the water.  I stocked up on couple boxes that I wont touch for quite some time and am glad I did.  I have no idea if this has peaked already or has more time to grow but I am really glad I have enough to truly explore this staple cigar over the years.

 

I value this at $25

cuba ratio - 2.59

[lovethehaze]

Great review. I also have smoked some aged not white this old but 2011-2013 ‘s and they r amazing.
Question for you. I always read your end cost , ratio etc. can u explain it to me I don’t understand it.
Thanks


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[Bucky McSwensen]

Yul blog site lists Cuba shelf prices.  I make a Cuba ratio for what i value it over what it would cost to buy today on the island.  If I paid for it I list my cost ratio based on what I paid.

If I traded for it or if it's a regional then I don't list those ratios since I can't come up with them

That's how I really judge value.  Makes a 85 point cigar that cost 5 worth more than a 95 point cigar that cost 40.  For example huhc or hoyo pr has way more value to me than any LE I've had.  Not to say I hate LE but harder to justify the mark up.  Just a silly gimmick rating system to switch things up.

[lovethehaze]

Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.


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[Bucky McSwensen]

Used to add a paragraph at the end of each review to explain but got bored of retyping or copypasting.  

[BlueRidgeFly]

After reading this review, I shall not pre-condemn what I thought might be the slightly sorry carcass of my last 2012-ish Monte 2. I burned its twin last week, was OK but not like yours ?

[Bucky McSwensen]

All mine 2017 or younger have been okay at best.  I stocked up "knowing" that they are great with age and it's been stressing me out.  This gave me hope.  Who knows if it's real but I needed hope

[Chucko8]

Great review mate. Well done