Montecristo Montecristo C Edición Limitada 2003

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Cigar:
Montecristo Montecristo C Edición Limitada 2003

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture/Box Codes: AGO KGM 2003

Country of Origin: Cuba

Wrapper Color: Colorado Maduro

Wrapper type: Cuban

Filler: Cuban

Binder: Cuban

Vitola: Coronas Gordas (5.625x46)

Manufacturer: Habanos S.A.

Factory: KGM

Humidimeter Reading: 67% (+/-2%)



Environment:

Temperature: 60 degrees

Humidity: 54% (typical Wyoming, very light sprinkling rain)
Wind: N/A


Setting: My comfy spot on the swing bench in the little glass smoke hut facing the beautiful nearby Big Horn Mountain range.

Paired with: Homemade iced coffee

Cigar Aficionado rated it an 88 and 87 in 2005 and 2006 respectively. From their 2006 review: “Rich and dark, this spotty, veiny cigar has a creamy sweet flavor. Nuts and wood pair on the palate on this medium-bodied smoke. The finish is short, but sweet”

Just appearance-wise at this point, I agree it is rich and on the darker side as far as most Colorado Maduro wrappers I see, a darker, chocolate brown, and is a little speckled with darker spots and is definitely veiny.

Frankly, it’s the ugliest Montecristo I think I have ever seen, and Montecristo is my favorite marca, so I have smoked a ton of them.

Wrapper has a rough, coarse texture with lots of visible thin veins, and a rough, medium length cap.

Construction-wise, it has a hard, lumpy bunch, which in my experience with others like this, it has no negative effects on anything except appearance with the lumpiness.

The wrapper has just barely visible seams, but overall I would have to call it fairly unattractive, which surprises me for a Montecristo, especially an EL, but fortunately, appearance has no effect on taste, which is really all that matters in a cigar, and the reason this section in my outline form is only worth a maximum of 5 points.

On to a little more on construction, less visible seams seems to mean less likely to have peeling issues in my experience.

I’m sure we have all had some cigars where the wrapper cracked up all over or completely came off, leaving just the binder and filler. This seems to happen most often with Connecticut wrappers for me. Just had a Connecticut wrapper cigar the other day that just cracked up all over, and pieces flaked off wherever I was holding it.

The cold draw was probably good for most people, but I like mine on the easier side with just a little bit of resistance, so I ran the PerfecDraw through both ends a couple times, and it opened up to what I consider a perfect draw for me, but it would have been fine as-is, so another plus for construction.

I rarely taste anything on a cold draw, but this one had a light hint of something I can’t describe as it doesn’t remind me of anything. It’s a pleasant taste though, which is hopefully a good sign for the flavor once lit.

Just as an aside, if you don’t have a PerfecDraw, I highly recommend getting one. It will more than pay for itself in salvaged or just tight/plugged cigars. Its nice and thin, so works good and safely on 50rg or less cigars.

I also recommend getting a Modus II tool for use in larger than 50rg cigars. It’s a lot thicker, and has one large barb that will rip out large pieces of plugs or just open up a tight roll. Will almost certainly crack the wrapper on anything 50rg or under, so definitely only for use on the larger rg smokes.

Very nice, sharp, even burn the entire length, nice, flat coal, mottled black, typical ash structure and a perfect draw.

Ample smoke volume and a faint, subtle, woody aroma.

A medium richness and smooth, medium body, mild strength, a fairly modest flavor of earthy and woody tastes dominating, and light leather and spice in the background.

Finish was again predominantly woody and earthy, with just a hint of leather as it fades.

A very light, initial sweetness and with no bitterness, sharpness or saltiness and just the slightest burn on the tongue.

Overall character and quality was very good, with an overall very good score of 91 out if 100.

Not the greatest Montecristo I have ever had, but still a very tasty, well constructed smoke.

I think it may have been a much better smoke with about 5 years or so less age.
It just gave me the impression that it had passed its prime.

I friggin love cigars


I friggin love cigars