Montecristo no 3 - ATO MAR 12 (MRW2)*

[Sir Diggamus]

This was a planned cigar on my part but it was planned during my normal work day. My schedule is mostly made by me, but on occasion a client has an issue pop up that requires immediate attention, and of course it happened 20 seconds after I lit the cigar. So this became a mobile review. 

This Monte no 3 was one I received in a 10 box and had been in a travel humidor case for a while and got beat up some. Damage at the foot and the wrapper looked rough, with dark spots here and there. The aroma at cold is cedar and sweetness with just a hint of barnyard. 

After I clipped the cigar and fired it up I was greeted immediately with a rich mocha and spice combo. Less chocolate and more coffee/cream with a myriad of spices, if you have enjoyed a "dirty chai" you are in the ballpark of spices here. One thing I have really enjoyed about doing these Monte reviews so close together is to see the differences in profiles from cigars in the same marca with others in such recent memory. The flavors in this cigar were MUCH more rich & robust than in the no 1 and no 4 I had reviewed as part of the same series. 

As the first third progressed I began to get a berry/citrus combo in the retrohale that brought in a whole other dimension to this experience. I pulled over on several occasions to grab another pic and just enjoy a few puffs I could really concentrate on. The burn was pretty straight and produced a salt and pepper colored ash. 

In the beginning of the 2/3 the berry notes kind of mellowed while the sweet citrus notes lingered in the background to compliment the creamy coffee notes that stayed front and center. I kept trying to concentrate to peg a singular spice in the profile but it kept seeming like it was a bundle more or less. 

About halfway into the last third the coffee notes went away and a dark chocolate note appeared. Man was this is a good cigar. I ended up in the parking lot of a grocery store finishing it to the nub. 

This cigar was filled with rich flavors that were complex and nuanced, but not subtle at all. I wish more cigars retained this level of flavor pop with age. An OUTSTANDING cigar!

95 rating