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Cigar Reviews This room is for organized blind reviews, individual reviews by CW Members and reviews entered into the database that the Editors feel are particularly well done. |
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08-26-2006, 06:57 PM | #1 |
Managing Editor Emeritus
Herf God
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Montreal, Canada
Posts: 26,082
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Montecristo C EL 2003
"Torch Song"
Montecristo C Edición Limitada 2003 Country of fabrication: Cuba Dimensions: 5.63 inches by 46-raing gauge Type of cigar: Coronas Gorda Date smoked: Saturday August 26th, 2006 Setting: A pleasant late afternoon on the back porch. Accompanying drink: Redbreast 12 Year Old Pure Pot Still Whiskey with a tall glass of cool water at the side. The thrust of this Irish classic, embellished with a serious spiciness and constantly shifting between enlivening barley grain and a more fruit-laden Sherry-induced component, matched the Montecristo step for step. Texture of wrapper: Semi-gloss and slightly rumpled. Visible seams as well as a few raised veins with a telltale hem-stitch appearance. Some leaf stretching. Scattered tooth that protruded above the surface like small pimples. No gold awards here. Colour of wrapper: Deep cocoa tending to Van Dyke brown. The vein ridges, in contrast, a lighter golden raw sienna. Colour of binder: Sanguinous burnt sienna. Colour of filler: Sandalwood through cocoa to a mixture of Indian red and Van Dyke brown. Fairly deep overall. Roll density: Compact. Finger feel: Firm. Pre-light aroma: Musty. Dark earth and undergrowth. Faint cedar, chocolate, cinnamon and cayenne. Pre-light draw: Somewhat muted, cedar-tinged tobacco with distant echoes of ginger and orange zest. Post-light aroma: Warm, sweet, lush, leathery embering tobacco. Combustion: A severely slanted burn edge required multiple corrections during the early moments, though this aberration eventually corrected itself. Solid shale grey to charcoal ash. Blunted cone. No relights. Draw: Perfect. Total smoking time: Approximately 1¼-hour. Opening portion: Deep, rich, toasted tobacco laced with cedar and pepper. A decidedly sweet edge akin to fruit sugar. Quite stunning in light of the restrained pre-light draw characteristics. Early stages: Structured and not at all overblown. Plum fruit and orange pulp melding amidst incoming waves of Cuban leaf, the pepper element tightly wound within the ripeness. Mid point: Soothing, seductive, toasted tobacco. At once crisply delineated and luxurious. Undercurrents of herbal tea, honey and leather. Similar in many ways to a classic No.2, yet with additional exotic twists of taste. Latter stages: Scintillating cedar and pepper, the latter oscillating from ground black peppercorn to cayenne to chili. Thai basil. Flickering dark chocolate and expresso. Escalating tobacco intensity. Lingering sensation: Well cured tobacco with a hint of sweetness. Length of finish: Outlasted the whiskey. Flavour progression: Dynamic with a head-spinning finale. Evidence of tannins: Very high quality tannins that, though readily apparent, never abraded or intruded on the sense of balance. Textural quality: Riding the razor’s edge between subtlety and out and out opulence. Brilliant. Strength: Medium-strong. Summary: A truly unique smoking experience. Those fruit-like notions almost reminded me of a Padron Serie 1964 Imperial, but the overall effect was unmistakably Montecristo.
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