Last night was just one of those nights. Home at a decent hour, a good dinner, Melly didn’t have to work, so was home for company, the cats were content and not looking for much if any attention. So I decided to have myself a Montecristo #2 ISOM. Not sure of the year as that information wasn’t passed when it was gifted as a bonus cigar in a recent trade. Regardless though I have been looking forward to it. I have only had one other Montecristo #2 ISOM and only a couple of the domestic (Dominican isn’t it?) variety and have enjoyed both ISOM and non-ISOM.
The smell was incredible pre-cut and light. Hints of cream, floral, fresh soil and strong tobacco. I smiled and set it on top of my humidor and proceeded to search for my burgundy colored Xi2 cutter. As some of you may know, we just recently moved and needless to say most of our stuff is yet to be unpacked. Now my cutter here is fairly new, so it is still “stiff” and one side always tends to move first, which makes forr an uneven cut sometimes. Not that bad of one, but just a little off to the side as it were. So, I don’t use it that often, but do play with it a bit, cutting air, trying to get it loosened up enough to cut evenly when pressure is applied. Which means, I still tend to use my V-cutter or punch cutter more often than not, which is why the Xi2 cutter was still packed away. Anyway, I digress.
With careful handling I managed to get an even cut on the torpedo and tested the draw. The taste was excellent, catching the floral essence that the smell alludes to, along with “something” in the taste that said to me that this would be a strong cigar. The light went without a hitch, catching easily and quickly. Two things came immediately to mind after I lit it. The first was how quickly this cigar went to ash. Not in a fast-burning way, but that ash itself formed quickly. As a matter of fact throughout the cigar I thought that it may have burned out only to find that no, it was still not only burning evenly, but the ash itself was perfect in forming.
Keeping in mind that as I smoked this cigar and watched TV, that this was the only light source in the room – the TV. So when I did flick the ash, I could see the perfect, round tipped ember and as the ash formed just the thinnest of lines between the burn and where the ash started. Never have I seen this before to this degree and it made for a rather cool smoke for the entire cigar.
The second thing I noticed was the taste. Now, I am not an expert about the ages of cigars. I am only now barely beginning to detect an old cigar from a fresh one by taste tendencies and even then I am not that good and if it was a blind review would probably fail at it. So my initial point of view was that it had strength to it, which I would normally characterize as a newer smoke. However, the tastes themselves as I smoke down the cigar remained very consistent and had the ease of complexity that I associate with an older cigar. My best guess is that this cigar was from sometime between 2000 and 2002. And yes, I am completely aware that the cigar could have been from any time frame and I would probably not know the difference if it came up and bit me.
The tastes themselves in the cigar as previously noted were consistent from light to nub. A light earthiness coupled with a floral essence dominated the cigar, with hints of old berry, light peppery spices (very light but there on the edge of your tongue). The tastes were not overly complex, but very mild and distinct. The body of the smoke however was medium to full and aromatic.
Last but not least, was the overall feeling of contentment that this cigar left me feeling as I smoked it. Aside from the ash being so near perfect that in the dark I kept fretting that the cigar went out, it was simply a dependable, hassle-free and great cigar. The construction was superb and of the highest quality.
Overall I would rate this cigar a 90, with noted bonus points of being consistent and the burn and ash factor. Luckily I know I have a 5-pack of these coming to me in a few weeks from a buy-in I am involved in. This cigar will definitely be added to my list of special occasion cigars.
Needless to say I am looking forward to the September buy-in of the IGBC!
Sam
a.k.a. the newbie reviewer
The smell was incredible pre-cut and light. Hints of cream, floral, fresh soil and strong tobacco. I smiled and set it on top of my humidor and proceeded to search for my burgundy colored Xi2 cutter. As some of you may know, we just recently moved and needless to say most of our stuff is yet to be unpacked. Now my cutter here is fairly new, so it is still “stiff” and one side always tends to move first, which makes forr an uneven cut sometimes. Not that bad of one, but just a little off to the side as it were. So, I don’t use it that often, but do play with it a bit, cutting air, trying to get it loosened up enough to cut evenly when pressure is applied. Which means, I still tend to use my V-cutter or punch cutter more often than not, which is why the Xi2 cutter was still packed away. Anyway, I digress.
With careful handling I managed to get an even cut on the torpedo and tested the draw. The taste was excellent, catching the floral essence that the smell alludes to, along with “something” in the taste that said to me that this would be a strong cigar. The light went without a hitch, catching easily and quickly. Two things came immediately to mind after I lit it. The first was how quickly this cigar went to ash. Not in a fast-burning way, but that ash itself formed quickly. As a matter of fact throughout the cigar I thought that it may have burned out only to find that no, it was still not only burning evenly, but the ash itself was perfect in forming.
Keeping in mind that as I smoked this cigar and watched TV, that this was the only light source in the room – the TV. So when I did flick the ash, I could see the perfect, round tipped ember and as the ash formed just the thinnest of lines between the burn and where the ash started. Never have I seen this before to this degree and it made for a rather cool smoke for the entire cigar.
The second thing I noticed was the taste. Now, I am not an expert about the ages of cigars. I am only now barely beginning to detect an old cigar from a fresh one by taste tendencies and even then I am not that good and if it was a blind review would probably fail at it. So my initial point of view was that it had strength to it, which I would normally characterize as a newer smoke. However, the tastes themselves as I smoke down the cigar remained very consistent and had the ease of complexity that I associate with an older cigar. My best guess is that this cigar was from sometime between 2000 and 2002. And yes, I am completely aware that the cigar could have been from any time frame and I would probably not know the difference if it came up and bit me.
The tastes themselves in the cigar as previously noted were consistent from light to nub. A light earthiness coupled with a floral essence dominated the cigar, with hints of old berry, light peppery spices (very light but there on the edge of your tongue). The tastes were not overly complex, but very mild and distinct. The body of the smoke however was medium to full and aromatic.
Last but not least, was the overall feeling of contentment that this cigar left me feeling as I smoked it. Aside from the ash being so near perfect that in the dark I kept fretting that the cigar went out, it was simply a dependable, hassle-free and great cigar. The construction was superb and of the highest quality.
Overall I would rate this cigar a 90, with noted bonus points of being consistent and the burn and ash factor. Luckily I know I have a 5-pack of these coming to me in a few weeks from a buy-in I am involved in. This cigar will definitely be added to my list of special occasion cigars.
Needless to say I am looking forward to the September buy-in of the IGBC!
Sam
a.k.a. the newbie reviewer
