RealFreakinCigarReviews

Initial Thoughts

What a surprise!  Dan walked into work one day and presented me with a fabulous gift.  What's he thinking?  Man, who gives these babies away?  But I am grateful as I've not had any non-Cuban Monte's yet, and I've been wanting to see how they stack up.  Can't go wrong I think!

The Smoke

Uncellophaning this beauty revealed a blemish-free medium dark colored wrapper that smelled quite good.  A quick pass under the wife's nose garnered no particular reaction (a plus!)  The squish test did reveal a pinky-sized mushy spot near the band, and a few subsurface veins.  V-notching the cap resulted in no unpleasant surprises, and it fired right up after a moment of foot toasting.

Oh boy - what flavor!  Very smooth and creamy, just like the Cuban versions I've sampled, with quite a strong hint of chocolate.  This flavor remained consistent from first puff all the way to the nub.  The draw was just about perfect.  There was no need for "pre-puffing" to get a mouthful of thick smoke, even when leaving it unsmoked for a few minutes, and there was nary a waste of precious smoke off the burning end.  Oh, did I mention the flavor?  
Yummy yum yum!  The reseller calls these a "medium-full" strength, but shit, I must've been smoking quite a few sticks of crap before this one, as this cigar was so non-bitter and lacking in harshness that I think my "strength meter" may be a bit wonky.

The burn was slow and quite even all the way down to the nub, and I didn't even scorch my fingers holding onto the last remnants of the roach, as the thing just didn't get hot.  I was sorry to see I had come to the end of this fine smoke, since the flavor and no-trouble-whatsoever experience was so tasty and relaxing.  Hmmm, I think I see a whole
box of these goodies in my future!  Near perfection for $6+ a stick, not bad at all.

The Rating