Montecristo No.2

[genevapics]

vitola: Piramides

ring: 52

length: 156 mm / 6 1/8 inches

box code: ROA ENE 06

beverage: Balvenie 15 yr. on the rocks/glass of cold water

Date of review: August 28, 2006

CONSTRUCTION

A beautiful wrapper with a cocoa brown hue. Wonderful construction though a half step below a Cohiba.

PRE-LIGHT & DRAW

Before I clipped this cigar, I inhaled deeply along the length and foot and detected very little of anything! Not a good sign. After clipping and taking a cold draw, I detected some sweetness. Hmm, things were looking up.

FIRST THIRD

I put the match to this baby and sat back to enjoy the ride. The first few draws were filled with harsh tobacco flavors. About three to four minutes in, I detected a faint cocoa flavor mixed in with hints of vanilla. The flavors were not powerful but were definitely present. It was 30 minutes before the first ashing; 1.5 inches of gray and white flecked ash.

SECOND THIRD

After ashing, the cocoa and vanilla flavors traded places, with the vanilla coming to the forefront. Again, these flavors were not intense, but were detectable. Imagine sitting in a kitchen and across the room there is an open bottle of vanilla and an open box of cocoa; you can smell them, but not like you would if you stuck your nose into the containers. Sixty minutes in and I ashed the cigar for a second time.

FINAL THIRD

The vanilla bean and cocoa flavors finally succumbed to that of rich tobacco. Every now and then I would detect a hint of vanilla bean, but for the most part the flavor was rich tobacco. I continued on for another thirty-five minutes and finally laid the No.2 to rest. A fair amount of ash clung to the two plus inches of un-smoked cigar... I hadn’t even gotten to the band!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Back in October 2005, I purchased 5 singles of Montecristo No.2 from the Czar. All five had wrappers that were brownish-green in color. All five were very bland. This cigar makes six and is by far the best Montecristo No.2 that I have smoked. Although this box is very young (~ 8 months old), I believe it has tremendous aging potential.

This Montecristo provided me with 1hr35m of smoking pleasure. Hints of vanilla bean, cocoa and rich tobacco flavors were detected at different stages of the cigar. While not as flavorsome as a Montecristo Especial that I recently smoked (see review), I believe over time, this box will provide me with some memorable cigars.

Because of its youth, I cannot rate this cigar as high as the Especial (90). That said, I will definitely purchase another box of 2006’s before they are gone. If you like the Montecristo No.2 (my favorite) do yourself a favor and purchase a box. Yes, the Montecristo No.2 suffers from a lack of consistency, but if half of the cigars are like this I like my chances for a great smoke in the next 2-3 years. Take the plunge and purchase a box from the 2006 production run.

RATING: 87 (too young to rate higher)

[shrink]

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful review, genevapics. The youngest Monte 2's I have are from mid-'04, and they are just now starting to come around. For the first year, they certainly had sufficient strength and character, but were not showing the complex bean flavors, nor the twang for which the No. 2 is famous. Now, those qualities are present, but not yet to the degree I would like.

The verdict: It is a waste to smoke these cigars with less than two years on them. Better to let 'em age for three or more years.

[xibbumbero]

Nice review on a most XLNT cigar. I happen to likes em w/light wrappers. X:-P

[kab55]

Nice review! I know the 03's are smoking really nice right now, just craked a box open the other night.

[kab55]

»

» Back in October 2005, I purchased 5 singles of Montecristo No.2 from the

» Czar. All five had wrappers that were brownish-green in color. All five

» were very bland. This cigar makes six and is by far the best Montecristo

» No.2 that I have smoked. Although this box is very young (~ 8 months

» old), I believe it has tremendous aging potential.

»

» Yes, the Montecristo No.2 suffers from a lack

» of consistency, but if half of the cigars are like this I like my chances

Just wondering how you can judge consistency from 6 cigars????? I've smoked probably a half dozen boxes,or more, from 03 & 04 and I've found them to be fairly consistant. :-P

[El Presidente]

Excellent Review

Consistency has been a problem which should have been improved if not eliminated from mid 05 with the use of aged leaf.

This has not been a Monte 2 exclusive problem, but a problem amongst all of the most popular high production lines.