Montecristo Edicion Limitada 2003 C (ISOM) review

[moki]

While in Germany, I picked up a box of Montecristo Edicion Limitada 2003 C cigars to bring back home to the US. Everywhere you hear the mantra about Cuban cigars being "the best in the world", so I jumped at the chance to pick up a full sealed box of this well-known brand. It's a limited edition, no less, how could I go wrong? Out of paranoia, I took the bands off of them to thwart the customs agents, but they didn't even look in my bag. Go figure.

I've had a few of these Montecristo EL's on and off for the past few months, but didn't pay much attention to them while smoking them, nor was I left with any lasting impression (good or bad). So it was time to have another shot at it, paying more attention to the taste for a formal review.

The cigar itself is roughly (but not quite) robusto size, has immaculate construction, and has a gorgeous reddish-brown wrapper that looks so appealing in the sunlight. However, despite me wanting to love this smoke -- especially after all of the effort I went through to bring it back -- I just couldn't get excited about it.

Sure, it burned wonderfully, with a straight and true ash, but the draw was a bit difficult. More important were the flavors that came through on each draw: quite a mild nutty/leathery taste, with some very fleeting hints of spice. The aftertaste was somewhat unpleasant, with notes of ashtray mingling freely with a whispers of pesticide/soap. It's not as bad as it sounds, the aftertaste wasn't horrible, it just wasn't pleasant either.

About halfway through the smoke, I was just going through the motions, smoking it just to finish it. About 3/4 of the way through, I decided to put it out of its misery and toss it. I don't think this is just a case of a bad cigar, because it smoked similarly to the other cigars I've had from the box. History repeated itself.

And yes, I am quite sure these were real Cubans, and not fakes/knockoffs. I almost wish they were. Padrón/Fuente have nothing to fear from this particular cigar: while it isn't bad, it isn't something I'd look forward to pulling out of the humidor and smoking, Cuban moniker or not. Limited edition or not. Oh well.

Smoking it was like having a conversation with a rather dull person: not unpleasant, but rather superficial, uninteresting, and not something you look forward to in the future.

 

[CoventryCat86]

Well, I find Montes to be pretty boring to begin with.

Moki, I think once you smoke a few of some stronger Havanas like Vegas Robaina, Ramon Allones, etc., you might get "hooked" like I have become.

On the other hand DON'T DO IT, because once you smoke Havanas regularly, it's tough to turn back

I however STILL LOVE those PAM 26's MAN are they GREAT :thumbs: Of course they cost so darn much and are virtually impossible to get. I'm still keeping my eyes open for a box of #1's (which I think goes for around $500.00 :0 )

 

[emodx]

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking about buying a sample of these but i thinky you saved me a few $. I'd suggest burying the remaining stash in the bottom of the cooler and coming back to them in a year.

Emo

 

[vewyphishy]

Hmm, in that case, you can take this one out of our trade pack!

[Thread jack ON]
Let's keep the trade to the domestics only.
[Thread jack OFF]

 

[lucasbuck]

These are very young cigars. The Montecristo EL Robustos I have from '01 smoke like a dream. So I concur with Emo's assessment that you should put them away for at least a year. You're not enjoying them now anyway so how hard can it be?

 

[moki]

Sure, I can put them away... but why don't I need to do this with my Padróns, Fuentes, etc.? Also I'm assuming aging them will just mellow the taste out, and to me the taste is already to mellow to begin with. :/

 

[lucasbuck]

Most Havanas are very young when sold. They are usually not aged much. Your Padrons and Fuentes are aged sometimes for years before being sold. Take your beloved Annies for example. They are aged anywhere from 4-6 years as you know. And while it is common for cigars to mellow a bit with age some actually gain strength with time. In any case most improve in flavor and consistency. Trust me

 

[Matt R]

Montecristos need several years of age before they come into their own. Early '90's Montes are just now getting complex enough to enjoy fully. The ELs will probably need even longer. The strength may mellow, but the cigar should become more complex over the years.

Fuentes, Padrons, etc., etc., are all rolled with aged leaf and are also aged in the box for sometime before being sold to wholesalers. This is not true with all Havana cigars.

 

[moki]

Montecristos need several years of age before they come into their own. Early '90's Montes are just now getting complex enough to enjoy fully. The ELs will probably need even longer. The strength may mellow, but the cigar should become more complex over the years.

The strength was mellow out of the box, though, which doesn't portend well for the future... :lookup:

Sidenote: if other producers are able to sell cigars that are pre-aged and ready to smoke out of the box, why the hell can't Cuba? Is it just "not what they do"?

 

[lucasbuck]

Simple. Because they don't have to. My understanding is they sell 'em as fast as they can roll and box 'em.

 

[moki]

Simple. Because they don't have to. My understanding is they sell 'em as fast as they can roll and box 'em.

I don't think Padrón or Fuente has to either -- and they serve up a much nicer tasting cigar right out of the box. It's like Porsche saying you can buy a car now, but it's going to drive like crap for 1-2 years, so keep it in the garage.

 

[psyktek]

From everything I've read, it seems that Cubans have required aging to bring them to their full potential since they started making them. (OK, maybe not THAT long! ).
Have you felt this way about the other Cubans you've tried? If not, then maybe this particular blend/vintage just isn't gonna do it for you. I second, or third, the motion that you stick them in the bottom of your humi for a while and then see how the flavor has developed.

If you REALLY dislike them so much you don't want to do that, then.........



ADDY IN PROFILE!!!!!!!

 

[Matt R]

Think of it this way.... the Cubans make a heck of a lot more cigars than Fuente and Padron combined. The market for Havanas is worldwide and the market for non-Havanas is mostly in the states. Couple that with the other manufacturers buying leaf from several countries across the world in order ot make their cigars, the Cubans just have the leaf off of their island. Add to those reasons the years of drought, hurricane damage and blue mold/bad crops and that doesn't leave nearly as much tobacco to make cigars with. You'll find taht not too man otehr manufacturers date code their boxes. That's because they can make a run of robustos, let's say, that uses all different ages of leaf and still be in one production run.

 

[moki]

Think of it this way.... the Cubans make a heck of a lot more cigars than Fuente and Padron combined. The market for Havanas is worldwide and the market for non-Havanas is mostly in the states. Couple that with the other manufacturers buying leaf from several countries across the world in order ot make their cigars, the Cubans just have the leaf off of their island. Add to those reasons the years of drought, hurricane damage and blue mold/bad crops and that doesn't leave nearly as much tobacco to make cigars with. You'll find taht not too man otehr manufacturers date code their boxes. That's because they can make a run of robustos, let's say, that uses all different ages of leaf and still be in one production run.

Sure, but shouldn't a respected brand like Montecristo -- and especially a Limited Edition cigar from them -- be quality, and up there in terms of taste with the Padrón Anni's and Fuente Opus?

I understand the reasons for cigars from Cuba maybe not being up to snuff -- wider market, living off only their leaf, etc. -- but as a cigar smoker, I don't really care. I want a good cigar, I don't care where it comes from.

I'm certainly not going to condemn all Cuban cigars, but thus far my experience with ISOMs has been that they are fairly mediocre compared to higher-end "domestics". I hope to have that opinion changed in the future.

 

[Phil]

I had one of these over the hollidays (Gifted to me by a BOTL here, thanks you know who you are) and I loved it!


Not my fav cigar, but It wasnt bad by any means.

I woulda gave it a 89 if I remember correctly and I nubbed it.


phil

 

[lucasbuck]

Lets put it this way Andrew. If you're not willing to age your Havanas or pay the premium to buy aged stocks you may as well stick with your premium domestics. It also may be the case that you just prefer Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos. Everyones tastes are different. I remember reading an excellent post by Matt a while back. He stated he just doesn't care for the taste of most non-Cuban tobaccos. Some like chocolate. Some like strawberry. Some like vanilla.

 

[moki]

Lets put it this way Andrew. If you're not willing to age your Havanas or pay the premium to buy aged stocks you may as well stick with your premium domestics. It also may be the case that you just prefer Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos. Everyones tastes are different. I remember reading an excellent post by Matt a while back. He stated he just doesn't care for the taste of most non-Cuban tobaccos. Some like chocolate. Some like strawberry. Some like vanilla.

Fair enough -- but I want to see what all of the hype is about. I hope that I can smoke a premium aged Cuban some day, and enjoy it!

 

[Matt R]

Cigars are weird things. One can be good and the next ten bad, or vice versa. I've read varying reviews of this particular cigar. I have not had one yet so can't say one way or another as far as my own personal tasting of it. I do know however, that you will soon be able to sample a "premium aged Cuban " when your PMM box pass comes back.

 

[Phil]

I do know however, that you will soon be able to sample a "premium aged Cuban " when your PMM box pass comes back.

Your in for a treat Moki, Let me tell you. I HAD NO IDEA!!!!!!!!!!! and that is no joke.






Phil

 

[gibu]

Every part of the world will produce tobaco that has a slightly diferent taste then any other part of the worls will. If you like that taste then thats what you go with.

Cuba is broke. Did anyone happen to notice the going out of business sign on the Soviet Union? With their biggest benifactor out of commision and the world largest market nation boycoting them, Cuba is broke. The only major product they produce other then baseball pitchers is cigars. They are producing those things like crazy. The cigars that is. Were talking about trying to produce on the order of ten times as many cigars or more with the same people and same facilities. The only thing stopping them from producing even more cigars is they don't have any more tobaco to make them out of. Thats why the cigars aren't aged.

I was just reading a couple articles about domestic manufactures and there quality standards. Padron just moved into a new larger facility but will only be bumping up production by a few percent because they want to maintain the quality of the cigars. They expect to produce about 4.5 million cigars which will only be about a 5 -10% increase despite the big new place. In addition only about 500k of those will be anniversaries. They have like a 6 year inventory of tobaco aging and the capacity to make 20 million cigars if they didn't care about quality.

I was also reading an interview with the Altildis President. He was talking about the quality of cigars durring the cigar boom. They had cigars from brands like Montecristo on backorder for months if not years so they really pumped up production. They added on an evening shift of rollers and the quality of cigars produced on the evening shift was just terrible. They would send out a shipment of smokes and half the boxes from the day shift would be great and the half from the evening shift would be terrible. He said there was no way they were going back to a second shift ever again. Imagine having three shifts as some cuban factories did for a while.

Things are getting a little better. Habanos did take notice of the huge drop in standards and claims to have cut back on the number of cigars produced to better control quality. They still won't be aging them anytime soon though. A cigar aging in a warehouse isn't making them any money so as soon as there boxed up they'll be going out the door.

So if you like the taste of cubans, this is the situation you have to deal with.