Montecristo Dantes LE SOM DIC 16 (XNYRC)

[rcarlson]

Another year has passed on these so I went with a Montecristo Dantes from the bottom of my humi for my evening Christmas smoke. 

A beautiful stick with flawless construction.  A smooth oily dark chocolate wrapper that feels just right in the hand.  Evenly packed and balanced.  Great aroma.

Draw proved to be perfect as well.  Not much resistance, but not too easy either.  Burn was even and produced a light grey ash, as expected.  

The first legs produced a very pronounced, complex earthy, woody, cedar, and light spiciness. The usual Monte buttery mocha was totally absent, replaced by an earthy baking-chocolate.  

The middle-stretch produced the traditional coffee with some toasted almond while maintaining the earthy woodiness it started with.  

As the smoke warmed in the last stretch, it took on an ever more botanic intensity.  I was disappointed that the richness its appearance foretold was lacking.  

Although I love the format, it gets a B-.  Should've been much better for the price point and lineage.  Doubting these will blossom with age.  Just not enough interesting going on.  

 

[SenorPerfecto]

I've had small construction issues with some, but I really have enjoyed the format.

[rcarlson]

  On 12/26/2019 at 7:25 PM, SenorPerfecto said:

I've had small construction issues with some, but I really have enjoyed the format.

Expand  

The construction on all of mine have been excellent.  Like the popular girl in highschool, I can't find the flavor in all that its looks promise.