Montecristo Cigars

First of all, you’d be very hard pressed to find any cigar from Cuba today that has been as consistently popular as the Montecristo No 2, cigar smokers, world wide, choose this as their ” Go To ” cigar on almost a daily basis.  But…. One cigar that has been gaining a lot of popularity because of the quality in the last 5 or  6 years has been the H. Upmann No 2.  Cigar Aficionado has been saying nice things about the Upmann lately and, although I’ve been smoking them for years, I started thinking about them more and more and decided that these two Piramides need a bit more attention… The Upmann No 2 is a cigar that can go through many changes in the humidor and as you age this beauty, you’ll notice an incredible evolution taking place…  Last spring when I bought a number of Upmanns rolled and dated ’07, they were a very woody complex flavor but as the year went by, they now taste of dark coffee, cedar and slight notes of leather… The Montecristo No 2 dated ’06 in the picture is more of a Chocolate and coffee slanted profile that is very recognizable to Monte smokers… Every different day presents it’s circumstances and the choices we make regarding the cigars we smoke vary considerably… By choosing either one of these great torpedoes, we’ll be sure to have 2 great smoking experiences.

Our loss in game seven of the Stanley Cup last night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver set off  an evening of madness, rioting and looting that is now online world wide for all to see.  Not our city’s proudest moment.. Just over a year ago we hosted the Winter Olympics and we showed the globe how wonderful our city can be and how safe it is to come and visit with your family and friends…… Last night, not so much!!  A real heartbreak started with our loss to the Boston Bruins but my feelings on the series are that we simply ran into a tougher team with an exceptional goalie.. Hey, we took it to game seven and thats as far as any NHL team can go… I’m very proud of the hockey team we have and the style of game they play.. We just weren’t as good at “Goon” hockey as Boston, plain and simple….. There’s always next year… This aged Edmundo in the picture is going back into the humidor for a moment that is fitting for a cigar with such class… Hopefully it won’t be long until I feel that a moment is special enough for it to be torched.. Torched?? Maybe not the best choice of words to use based on our city’s behavior last night.. I thought we were better than that.. I’m very sorry..

This beautiful Cuban Montecristo No 2 from 2006 is quite pretty as it sits in the evening sun on this piece of decorative paper but as I was looking at the pic on my computer screen I couldn’t help noticing that the cigar has a bit of a rough appearance….. Well, it really doesn’t as I hold it in my hand but in full sunlight at close range with my camera I can’t help but notice that certain flaws sort of pop out at you… I believe that if I took a close up picture of any of you who are reading this right now I’d probably be able to find a flaw or two, a wrinkle or 10 or maybe just a bad picture all around…… This is why you’ll NEVER see my face in this blog…. Believe me when I tell you that cigars are a lot better close up than my face would be ANY day….. I’ve had a lot of fun taking pictures of Cuban Montecristo Cigars in this last year and have a lot of ideas of what I’ll be doing in the months coming up… I love going on line and checking out other blogs and cigar sites and admiring the fine fine pics that some of you compose and upload.   As time goes by, I’ll be up-grading my camera gear and thinking of new and different backgrounds for these great Cubans… Thanks for dropping by!

This lovely little Montecristo was going to be lit after tonight’s victory in Boston against the Bruins………. Ummmm….. Back into the humidor it goes, for the time being… Tonight’s loss against Boston was really surprising, not in how much we lost by but by how the game was played and how much violence was put on display… I don’t think I’ve seen our Canucks get hit this much on the ice and I’m pretty sure it affected their strategy in game three….. OK so we got our butts handed to us on a platter but we’re still up two games and although there is still a game on Wednesday night in Boston, I know that our team will be rested up and geared up for a third victory….  We skated slowly and looked like old men on the ice tonight compared to the team we usually see getting goal after goal but all will change….. This cigar will be lit at the beginning of the fourth game and I know that victory will be ours!!!!!!

Go to the Habanos festival held in Havana each year and you’ll be instructed on how to pair different beverages with different cigars…. I could give you my feelings on this but I am the first individual that would tell you how little I know on the topic…. These guys in Havana have been doing this since the beginning of time and have it down to a science…. Rums are the beverages that they concentrate on, for the most part, but I believe that different cigars expose different flavors and are amplified by different alcoholic beverages… I’m a big fan of pairing a Montecristo cigar with Scotch whiskey… There’s something about the burst of Caramel in your mouth that cigar smoke gives you after a sip of scotch… Almost any scotch will do that for you in varying degrees but the stronger oak scotches introduce a different profile again….. I’ve never really thought that beer is a good pairing, in fact I prefer hot chocolate over beer with a cigar….. Strange but true……..  Wines can work against you but it depends on the cigar…… Or…… Maybe you love almost any alcoholic beverage with any cigar….. Many people feel like I do in that, almost anything works…… Its all in how you feel today!

Once again, I’m puffing away on a Montecristo Petit Edmundo from Oct of ’06 ….. Eat your hearts out……. There’s NOTHING like an aged cigar and especially a Monte that has 5 years of age under it’s belt… The Petit Edmundo tends to have a bit more strength than a lot of the other Montes but when smoked slowly it can be very creamy and sweet.. I keep saying this but, smoke a cigar slowly and try to keep it’s ash as long as you can for best results…  I’m thumbing through a Rolling Stones book and since I just read Keith’s ( no last name needed…..really ) autobiography, I have the Stones on my mind a lot lately…. I was lucky enough to spend some time on the X-Pensive Winos’ first tour and was lucky enough to see Keith and his great band play night after night…. I believe I saw 6 of their shows in all from Boston to L.A…..  Wow, what an eye opener !!! The great way he attacks a song with such great taste reminds me of the cigar I’m smoking right now…. He isn’t one to over-play but waits patiently and listens to what each other member of his band is doing before contributing just the perfect guitar part to make up a wonderful symphony of syncopation and harmony.. Waddy Wachtel was the second guitar player in the “Winos” and it was a perfect marriage of 2 guitars… I gotta tell you that the first third of this Petit Edmundo is very beautiful and balanced….. Anyway, getting back to Keith’s taste…. And then one night I saw Keith’s wife, Patti Hansen backstage…… Yes, just like this great cigar, Keith has great taste!

As I write this I’m tasting loads of vanilla in the second third of this wonderful robusto from Hoyo de Monterrey…. The Epicure No 2 , a true robusto with a 50 ring gauge at 4 7/8 inches long, from Oct ’08 is not quite 3 years old but now smoking so well that I believe that it is hitting it’s optimum performance…. Many would argue with me and say that you need at least ten years in a humidor until a cigar becomes magical but everyone expects something different from a cigar and I, for one, believe that tobacco leaves with slightly fresher oils have a more complex profile.. I have some of these same cigars from ’07 and you would think they came from a different factory.. No kidding…. On a slightly sadder note, this is my fourth last cigar from the ’08 box.. I smoked and gave away the others before their time… I thought that maybe I had a sub-standard batch and when lighting this one, just now, I was once again reminded that cigar tobacco is constantly evolving in a humidor and more patience is what I need…

In 1966 a new brand of cigars was formed in Cuba that was meant to be a secondary value line to the Montecristos.. This cigar brand, Diplomaticos, was initially aimed at the French market and cigar smokers in France enjoyed them for years.. This line was a bit more affordable, compared to the Montecristo, but the high quality of tobacco used in the production of these vitolas put these cigars on an even par with anything that comes out of Cuba today… The sizes of the Diplomaticos are identical to the sizes that Montecristo puts out and the No 2 in the picture above is the twin brother, in size, to the world famous Montecristo No 2…. Diplomaticos were initially meant to be a bit milder in strength but I’ve smoked some very smooth and medium strength Monte 2′s that really don’t seem to be all that much stronger than the cigar in the picture….. The taste of Diplomaticos are smooth, balanced and have notes of chocolate and coffee that will leave you wanting more and more of this brand in your humidor…. They are very much a cigar for ANY Montecristo smoker to consider!

A few years back Cuba introduced a great foolproof system for cigar smokers to check the authenticity of Cuban cigars they intend to buy by adding a barcode to their packaging…. This is attached to the green seal that appears on the bottom left hand side of the cigar box….. At times you will see a new green seal with barcode included stuck over an older seal and, in some cases, these will be slightly older cigars which is always an added bonus….. I’m often looking online at different sites where people sell cigars after coming home from a holiday and the first thing I will write to them will be the question of the barcode and the numbers on the seal that helps me check the authenticity at the Habanos site….. Quite often I get folks writing back and giving me the red numbers which are on the green seal…. For all intents and purposes, these numbers are useless…. This is a great tip-off that tells you that the cigars were purchased on the “Grey” market in Cuba and you’ll be smoking terrible cigars that were rolled in someone’s basement….It’s the black numbers on a white background like the picture above that you need…  After you have the correct digits,go here……   http://www.habanos.com/default.aspx ……. and on the top of the Habanos home page you will see a small square that you hit with your cursor that lets you into the Page that will have the spaces to fill out to help you check if you are going to buy the real thing or not!!!!  This was a lifesaver for me when buying a few boxes of cigars in the last few years and I can’t thank Habanos enough for giving us the opportunity to protect ourselves..

   I am a big fan of Cuban cigars and love the taste I’ve been experiencing with many of the Cuban brands available to Canadians but today I decided to light up a cigar from Rocky Patel that turned my head and made me wonder why I haven’t been smoking more of these.. This Toro comes in at a 52 ring gauge and 6.5 inches long.. The box press gives you the illusion that this is a smaller ring gauge but once this cigar is lit, you are reminded that a big big flavor has been waiting for you……The pre-light draw from this cigar with the Corojo wrapper from Honduras and filler from Nicaragua left a bit of a tingle on my lips which told me that I would be in for a bit of spice before this cigar experience came to an end but upon lighting this cigar and tasting the first few puffs I was instantly met with loads of sweet coffee and a slightly caramel flavored chocolate that was very satisfying.This was a complex cigar that kept it’s smoothness throughout but evolved into a multi faceted profile that introduced slight woods and even leathers that danced around my palate well into the second third…..Notice the whitish grey ash that held quite strongly until about 3 inches before deciding to fall into my ashtray which was hiding a perfect cone……  This cigar was rolled very well and the draw was easy and pleasant to deal with.  A great drawing cigar really lets one control the temperature of the flame so you get the smoothest flavors possible…….  It seems that Non-Cuban cigar companies have no trouble giving you a consistency that makes you wonder why it seems to be so hard for all cigar makers to achieve this featHaving at least 2 hours for this elegant toro is necessary if you want to take time to quietly contemplate all that this Olde World Reserve has to offer……  As I write this at 10:15 at night I wonder how pleasant this would be to smoke first thing in the morning with a strong coffee and a warm deck on the golf course. ……. If this is what the Old World had to offer than I’m living at the wrong time..Another good Rocky Patel cigar I recently smoked was their “Sun Grown” series with the 5 year old Ecuadorian Sun Grown Sumatra wrapper……..  A robust  spicy smoking experience that was perfect after a big meal of rich flavors.   …….The long lasting finish from the Sun Grown series was tasty and again had me wondering why I hadn’t tried these sooner..Its been a great couple of days smoking these and becoming more rounded in my search for the perfect cigar.. ….. I’m sure that this quest will not be ending soon but I feel I’ve been given a few new gems to think about when buying more stogies for my humidor.