Montecristo

Years ago, I went on a trip to Canada with my family. It was there that I smoked by first Cuban cigar. It was a Montecristo Double Corona and it was one of the best smokes I had ever had. Since Cubans are pretty hard to get ahold of in the States, I obviously don't get to smoke too many and since the Cuban Montecristo will always remain one of my favorites, I have been avoiding the popular Dominican version for quite some time since there is no way it could have been as good. I didn't want a lousy imitation ruining the real thing for me.

Anyway, I finally broke down the other day because I realized that if I'm going to blog about cigars, I need to at least include all the well known brands. So I'm taking the hit here. I stopped by my local store and bought the Montecristo Double Corona. 7 1/2 inch length and a size 50 ring. Price: $8.50

Advertised as a medium bodied smoke, the Montecristo consists of Dominican Fillers with a Connecticut shade wrapper. I would also like to throw out the fact that some people have described this cigar as having a marshmallow taste. In a way, I'm dreading this.

The stick is a light brown and actually looks like it's in pretty good condition with no noticeable imperfections. It's also spongy which should ensure a decent draw.

The cigar is a bit of a pain to light. It takes more than a few minutes to toast the foot and really get it going. However, once I finally have the cigar fully lit, it burns quite well and consistently throughout the smoke. The ash is a very light gray and doesn't fall off until about 2 1/2 inches each time. The good burn eliminates any burning sensations in the mouth and allows the tastes to really be experienced.

Also, I find the construction to be great. The draw is perfect and the smoke is nice and full. A light puff gets the ideal amount of smoke into the mouth. So far, I'm actually impressed.

As for the flavors, everything starts off pretty mildly. There is some faint wood tastes along with some earthy notes, but everything is pretty light.

As the cigar burns, things start to pick up a little. The smoke develops a pleasant creamy texture, the wood flavors become more prominent, and a nice leather taste beings to come out more. Also, there is a spiciness that seems to come in and out which makes the cigar more complex as it burns. This second part of the cigar is quite good. The smoke is more on the mild side than medium bodied, but I'm still really enjoying this one.

The last part of the smoke gets a little bland as most of the flavors fade away except for the earthy tones. There is a slight sweetness that also emerges here but I don't think it works too well on it's own.

I definitely regret not smoking this one sooner. Is it anywhere near the level of the Cuban version? No. But it was still a good cigar. The flavors started off slowly, easing you into things, but when the smoke hit it's peak, there were a lot of flavors being thrown around at once in nice combinations. The end was somewhat boring, but throughout the whole smoke, the draw was great and the stick burned evenly. That always earns a cigar more points in my book. Montecristo offers a wide variety of cigars,and after enjoying this one, I'll definitely be trying some others.

Overall Rating: 87