Montecristo No. 1 (EIC MAY05)

[cigardawg]

I have picked a couple of young cigars of which to make a bit of a study. My strategy is to smoke one about every 4-6 months and note the change in the cigar. This is the first cigar from this box. Here are my thoughts:

Montecristo No. 1 (EIC MAY05)

This was a beautiful cigar, sporting a nice, chocolate colored wrapper. It had a very nice feel in the hand. The wrapper was not marred by any major veins and the seams were nice and tight. The triple-cap was very well applied. There was a slight box press to the cigar. The nose was that typical Cuban barnyard with hints of coffee. I clipped the end with my Il Corona and tested the draw...firm, but not too firm. Should draw nice.

I applied the torch and lo and behold, I was right...the cigar drew beautifully. Smoke production was adequate at first, but moved toward voluminous as it progressed. The ash was light to medium gray, firm, with almost perfect striations. The burn was dead-even throughout...never requiring attention. The cigar burned cool down to less than an inch. Great construction. A perfect smoking lonsdale...go figure.:-D

The cigar started out medium bodied. Initial tastes were dominated with herbaceous and citrus notes over a solid tobacco core. This flavor profile maintained for about the first inch. After the first inch, however, the cigar began to subtly increase in richness. It was so subtle that it was almost imperceptible. The flavor profile changed to a more earthy one with a distinct light-roast coffee bean note. As the cigar developed, this changed to a medium-roast coffee bean and then finally to a more dark or espresso taste. The bean flavors (vanilla/cocoa/etc.) were almost non-existent until the last third when some slight cocoa bean flavors became mixed with the coffee.

This cigar had an interesting flavor profile, but one I had to pay attention to. It was subtle and seemed to me not to have fully matured. I can, however, see great potential in this cigar. For now, I will rate this cigar a B+ (87-89). I can't wait to see how these turn out in a few years.

[SmokinLightning]

Great review. My one experience with these was a plugged, I'll have to revisit it soon.

[cigardawg]

» Great review. My one experience with these was a plugged, I'll have to

» revisit it soon.

Yeah, of all vitolas, the lonsdale (cervantes) has had the worst construction problems in my limited experience. This particular cigar was exquisitely constructed, however. Probably because of the 05 code. I have had Bolivars and others where half the box is too tight or plugged.

[greenpimp]

Nice review. Glad to hear the 05s are smoking well. I blew through a box split of 04s way too fast. Very tasty when well constructed.

[1f1fan]

Very nice review.

I really like the Monte #1, very good with 2-3 years of age. I had one from the 70's that was in perfect condition and smoked fantastic!

[El Presidente]

Another great review Dawg!

Since 2003, Lonsdales are no longer the construction crapshoot they were from 1997-2002. 2003 saw some underfilled versions which mostly disappeared in 2004/2005.

One of my favourite Vitola's :-P