Montecristo Edmundo UPO FEB 22 (RMRRW-M)

[ayedfy]

Montecristo Edmundo (tubo). 5.375x52. Box code UPO FEB 22.

Opening third: first draw suggesting chocolate mousse, as well as a white pepper edge. The pepper dissipates quickly, the mousse doesn’t - this seems the most apt description as it conveys how creamy and subtle this cigar is. Light to medium bodied, each draw is quite mild but the resulting flavour lingers well. Construction feels solid in the hands with a great draw, but very uneven burn.

Middle third: notes of brown sugar introduce themselves as the cigar shifts towards a distinctly sweeter edge, but still holding that delicate light-medium body. The continuing subtlety is bringing to mind a chocolate digestive biscuit through an emergent cereal note, but the gentle creaminess is still very much present. Burn finally steadying itself after some battles in the first third.

Final third: a slight espresso coffee character develops to replace the sweetness, but the chocolate mousse remains unaffected. Body still unchanged - I note this pairs best with a simple glass of water that allows these delicate flavours to spread throughout the mouth; I fear anything more flavoursome would risk drowning out the quiet song it’s singing. Burn issues again but who cares when the cigar’s good? Towards the end the confectionary sweetness returns and the body briefly jumps up to medium-full for the first and only time.

I've not concealed my displeasure towards Monte in the past, but this is probably the best I’ve had from the marca. While I can still comfortably say there’s something in the Monte identity that doesn’t personally grab me, it’s impossible not to enjoy a cigar so elegant and refined as this.

90/100

[Chibearsv]

Nice review. I’m a fan of those fatties.