Vitola: Figurado- 6.5” x 49 ring gauge
- ~$11.49 each
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
General Cigar has been working hard over the last several years to update their brands to appeal to a younger (though not necessarily “young”) demographic. Punch and Cohiba have fared well in this effort; Toraño not so much. Somewhere in the middle is the venerable Hoyo de Monterrey brand. Hoyo La Amistad blends are made by AJ Fernandez and have definitely been an upgrade in flavor and design from the older lines, but now they are trying to pay correct homage to the past with the brand, too.
Hoyo de Monterrey El Torcedor was presented at the 2019 IPCPR show and shipped in late September. It is a single vitola very reminiscent of some of the longer Fuente Hemingway vitolas and it is a limited edition, with only 1000 boxes of 20 being made. They used Ecuadorian Sumatra for the wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
I was able to buy a few when they first showed up at Burns, where I work. If your local B&M doesn’t carry them, Leaf Enthusiast sponsor, Small Batch Cigar does.
Prelight
The box on this appears fairly “plain jane” at first, with plain wood with some decoration on ti. It’s when you examine the details that you see the beauty of it. It’s a slide top with a notch at the back of the box where the lid can be propped so you can see the branding behind the cigars when it is on display. Adding to that, the box doesn’t take up a huge amount of shelf space or vertical room because the notch is half an inch or so down the back side. It is a thoughtful way of letting retailers know that the company thinks about the issues they face in displaying a large number of cigars well. Far too many companies don’t appear to care about the appearance on the shelf once the cigars have left the company’s warehouse.
The band is an ornate affair with black and red print, white lettering and a good deal of gold foil and embossing. It does look like a throwback, while simultaneously looking like no Hoyo de Monterrey wrapper I’ve seen. Maybe a little reminiscent of the Cuban ones in some ways, but that’s about it.
The wrapper was a milk chocolate brown color with a bit of darker mottling in places and an oily sheen. The aroma from it was leather and cedar with some earthiness. Because of the small tip, there was really no aroma from the foot of the stick.
I clipped the tip with my Xikar Xi straight cutter and the draw was okay, but a little extra tightness is to be expected with this type of figurado shape. The cold flavors were of natural tobacco sweetness, cedar, and a bit of a metallic note.
Flavor
Like the Hemingway series, the Hoyo de Monterrey Torcedor was a snap to light up due to the diminutive tip. It was tight at first, but two or three puffs in the smoke started to flow and the draw started to open up. I got initial flavors of copper, cedar, dark fruit sweetness, and a slight pepper spice. The retrohale was almost a chili powder pepperiness with a strange twang of anise and cumin in the mix. As the first third burned along I got earth and an increase in cedar, while the sweetness and metallic notes faded a bit and the pepper stayed steady.
The second third had the sweetness coming back in the form of a molasses note while there was still plenty of cedar and earth and a nice amount of peppery heat.
The Torcedor exhibited more cedar and spice in the final third, with enough sweetness to provide very good balance.
Construction
I had a very good draw, even burn line and solid ash.
Value
Very good cigar with just a slightly above-average price tag, so good value.
Conclusions
The Hoyo de Monterrey Torcedor was a good cigar that definitely was a callback to older blending styles, while still maintaining a good complexity and balance throughout. I enjoyed the interplay of cedar and earth and spice, along with enough sweetness and that Sumatra metallic twang to really keep things interesting. Get these while they are available.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
