Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 19 (CM)

[MrGlass]

I bought a few singles of these earlier this year as it had been quite a while since I had one.  The cigar had a firm draw, and the opening third was just crazy.  Nutmeg and cloves, slightly sweetened black tea, straight black tea, pure cream, espresso martini, espresso with cream - the cigar just jumped from one to the next, sometimes lasting a few minutes before moving on, other times only lasting for a few draws.

The middle third was a similar story.  Salted cream, savour, light cream with spices, cream increasing in intensity.  

The final third was a bit of a mess and let the cigar down overall.  From the start, the cigar required a few touch ups to correct a wonky burn, but the burn issues became more of an issue in the final third and the cigar had to be relit a few times.  Flavour wise, there was salt, cream and spices, but it was all a bit muddied and nowhere near as enjoyable.

No cigar triggers memories for me as strongly as this cigar.  This story starts on May 2, 2009 - the night I nearly died and the catalyst for my cigar journey.

On this night, I was out in the city with a friend and we were walking home.  We stopped to talk with a girl who was stumbling behind us, as we thought she might have mistook us for her friends.  As I was handing her a card she dropped on the ground, she started to fall and I caught her.  Next thing I knew, I was being thrown through the glass shop front window we were standing in front of.  Two guys who were nearby helped me out of the window, looked at me, and suggested I lie down.  It sounded like a good idea.  I knew my left hand had been cut badly by the broken glass, but what I didn't realise was that a two foot shard had gone through my chest and was still hanging there.  Police and paramedics arrived pretty quickly, but it took them a while to figure out how to move me.  After arriving at hospital, the doctors spent the next few hours working out how to safely extract the piece of glass.  The glass had pierced my armpit, and came out the centre of my chest, but amazingly had stayed outside of my ribcage.

The guy who attacked me was the boyfriend of a friend of that girl.  He fled, but came back to see what had happened when someone spotted him and the police arrested him.  The CCTV footage showed it was an unprovoked attack - he simply came charging in out of nowhere and threw me against that window twice.  The second throw sent me through.

I had always been interested in trying Cuban cigars, simply due to the mystique surrounding them.  But it was always something I was going to get to eventually.  I had tried a few cigars at this point, non-Cubans predominately but never anything special.  But this experience was a trigger to finally do something about this.  So a few months after the attack, we were heading away for a family weekend, and I decided to pick up a few proper Cuban cigars to take with me.

There was a coffee and cigar shop in South Brisbane - the Paladar Fumior Salon, and I went in looking to pick up the three cigars I had decided on.  While Fil didn't have those cigars, he picked three alternatives for me, then asked if there was any particular occasion I was celebrating.  I said "being alive I suppose".  Confused, he asked for more details, and I told him the story of what had happened.  He was taken aback, then asked if I was in any rush. When I said no, he made me a coffee, told me to take it out the back, and he'd be with me in a few minutes.  I sat outside, enjoyed my coffee, and got ready to leave when Fil came out with two Epicure No. 2's and said "Nick, I'd like to buy you a cigar."  And together, we sat there and smoked a cigar together, in what became the first of many during our friendship.  He has always said that that was the only time he ever gave a cigar away to a stranger.

That Epicure No. 2 was absolutely fantastic and I still remember how overwhelmingly sweet and creamy it was.  I've been chasing that dragon ever since.  The other cigars that I bought that day simply paled in comparison, as I approached them with the expectation they would be just as impressive as that Epicure No. 2.  When I got back, I went back to that shop and bought another Epicure No. 2, which was the last of that particular box and just as impressive.

This cigar will always hold a special place in my heart.  Every time I think of them, it takes me back to the start of my cigar journey, that afternoon I spent with Fil and all the friends and experiences this led to.  But they also inevitably take me back to that night as well.  

I don't smoke many of these anymore.  I've tried repeatedly over the years, but none of them have ever lived up to that first one.  Tonight's example showed promise from the start, but it's hard to compete with a memory.

[StogieSteve23]

Incredible story.  Glad you did not suffer further injuries from the incident and you have such a nice memory to associate with this cigar after the fact.  Thank you for sharing. 

[The Real McCoy]

Wow. Amazing story. Just as fine wine or great food, cigars are always elevated by the company or emotions surrounding them. When I light up a cigar, my mind and emotions are often thrust back to the first time I enjoyed that particular cigar or a memory surrounding a prior experience with that cigar.