Montecristo #2 (2020) (PRTApr24)

[Capn_Jackson]

Gorgeous weather, just finished grading a heap of papers, and decided to sit down and review a stick. I have only a few left from this box, and haven’t smoked one in probably two years. 

This beautiful stick is fairly bumpy, lots of little veins here and there, with a great deal of tooth. Nice pack, with significantly more give in the middle than at the head or foot. Dark chocolate brown wrapper.

After a slight Dickeman cut, the draw feels a bit tight, but not too bad. Cold draw has notes of bittersweet cocoa, coffee, and barnyard

Opening light immediately gives me rich, chocolatey breakfast cereal, some baking spices, and a fair bit of oak as if the neighbor were smoking a brisket. As the first third gets rolling, the smoke gets very chewy, almost bready in texture. The draw opens up quite a bit as things get warmed up, burn line is nice and consistent, and the smoke output is plentiful. Mostly dark, rich chocolate, with some coffee bean and baking spices. The finish has got some kind of dried fruit, dark cherry maybe, a good bit of clove, and also some campfire wood. Heading towards the second third, the coffee starts to get a little bitter, but that doesn’t last long. 

The strength on this is hovering nicely around medium. Burn line is staying consistent, and body is around med-full.

Going into the second act, there’s a slight change on the finish. Not so much dark fruit now, but some kind of stout, maybe. Goes nicely with the chocolate, which is now transitioning into a frothy hot cocoa. The clove is still there, although it might be slowly morphing into anise. 

Around the midpoint, the cocoa becomes more rich, but less frothy. Sort of a dusty sprinkling of baker’s cocoa over everything. The other spices start to match it in intensity. Meanwhile, the anise kicks up several notches, and there is quite a buttery note going on too, with a pinch of salt. This is very reminiscent of anise-spiced dark chocolate sablés. Interesting hollow spot in the ash, right about where the pack felt lighter at the beginning.

Doesn’t affect the burn, and off we go toward the last act.

There is a lot more buttery vibe in the last third of the cigar, although cocoa and anise are still the dominant one-two punch. Texture becomes very oily, but not a thick, viscous oil. Kind of the texture of olive oil. Coffee joins back in eventually, towards the end, somewhere between medium and dark roast. Finishes with strong coffee, cocoa, and… still, more than a fair bit of anise.

I don’t mind anise in doses, but when it’s one of the dominant flavor notes in a cigar, for over half of the two-hour smoke, that’s a little much for me. What started as a deliciously rich flavor-filled experience ended up having star anise dumped all over it. I don’t remember that being prevalent in the others I smoked, but it’s been about two years. More time, more time, more time. I’ve got a handful from this box left, and they’ll probably sit there for another couple of years, at least.

My score: 87

[MagicalBikeRide]

Nice review. Thanks. Shame re the anise. I’ve had two boxes from ‘21 and they’ve been top drawer - all milk chocolate and cream.