Vitola: Corona- 5” x 44 ring gauge
- MSRP ~$10.50
- Purchased at Maxamar
Background
A.J. Fernandez has had an extremely busy year. While releasing several new blends under his own company’s banner, he has also crafted releases for General, Altadis, and Caldwell. One of the newest releases is the Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez for Altadis.
According to a Cigar Aficionado article from June, this blend is made in AJ’s Nicaraguan factory using Nicaraguan (Criollo ’98) and Dominican (Piloto Cubano) fillers, a Nicaraguan Criollo ’98 binder and an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper leaf.
This release is intended for wide distribution to brick-and-mortar shops, while there was a “Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez” release late last year that was only intended as an online retailer release. Earlier this year he also created new H. Upmann and Gispert releases for Altadis.
I picked up a couple samples of the Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez while I was at Maxamar in California in October. I smoked one while I was there on my trip and saved the other for this review.
Prelight
For the sake of brevity I’m going to refer to this cigar as the Monte AJF for most of the remainder of this review. The box keeps the style of the previous Monte by Montecarlo releases, this time with a gold box with black and red art and type. It’s nice enough, but doesn’t break any new ground…probably just as well since it should fit in nicely next to previous Monte releases on store shelves. The primary band is a variation on the familiar Montecristo round label with Montecristo and AJ Fernandez encircling the trademark Fleur de Lis, using a background of black and gold foil type and accents, except for “Montecristo” which is rendered in red. The secondary “Monte by Montecristo” band has a familiar look to it, as well, though it designated “AJ Fernandez” on the back side of it.
The wrapper leaf was a milk chocolate brown with a very oily feel to it. The cigar was pressed into an almost-square box-press with soft, rounded corners. Sniffing the wrapper I got notes of leather and earth, while the foot had more earth, some cedar and a touch of a vegetal aroma.
After clipping, the cold draw was good and tasted of cedar and earth mostly.
Flavor
Lighting up the Monte AJF proved to be pretty easy and quick. I got tons of cedar flavor right off the bat, along with copious amount of black pepper and lesser notes of earth on the palate. The nose was intensely spicy with red pepper flake heat. I found the body of the cigar to be in the medium range at the beginning. After a few puffs, I noted that there was a ton of pepper spice on the finish, as well.
As I got into the second third, cedar flavor still led the way, with earthy notes coming in behind, but the pepper had toned down quite a bit, allowing for some grassier flavor to come through. The retrohale at this point was less peppery, too, with a bit of nuttiness in the mix.
Cedar notes still held sway in the last third, with a resurgence of pepper spice and a mellow grassy and earthy combination coming in behind. The cigar finished up in the medium-to-full range in terms of body.
Construction
I had a very good draw, even burn line and solid ash.
Value
Good cigar with a slightly elevated price (thanks to the Montecristo name, more than likely). Good value.
Conclusions
I found the Monte AJF to be a good and unique entry into both the Montecristo lineup and AJ Fernandez’s growing catalog of blends. It had lots of cedar and pepper from the Habano wrapper and Nicaraguan leaf used in the blend, but a good grassy balance due to the Dominican influence. While it’s not my favorite thing AJ has done in the past year, it’s definitely something I enjoy and would smoke again.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
