Cigar Review: Montecristo Espada

• Vitola: Ricasso
• 5” x 54 ring gauge
• Price $11.99
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist.

Background

A lot of 2014 seems like a blur to me now…could have been too much work or it could have been too much binge-watching on Netflix. Either way, It didn’t even register with me when Altars expanded the Montecristo line with something called “Espada”…that’s Spanish for “sword” for those of you without Google Translate. So when I first started working a couple days a week at Burns Downtown, I thought this cigar was much newer. Turns out it slipped under my radar last summer and we never got it at Burns East.

Altadis has been working on re-defining the Montecristo brand over the last few years (actually, they and their big rival—General Cigar—seem to both be working very hard to update many of their aging brands). First up was the Montecristo Epic, which was the first stick under the brand that I wanted to come back to again and again. Then the Monte hit on a solidly good flavor profile at a price point that was the most user-friendly in the brand…and it went on to get included in the big lifestyle magazine’s annual Top 25. And now we have Espada. What’s the common denominator in these cigars? Something called Grupo de Maestros, who blended all 3…

Blended by the Grupo de Maestros and crafted by the famed Plasencia Family, this brave new Montecristo combines the knowledge of centuries, the expertise of growing superior tobacco and the art and passion of handcrafting the finest premium cigars.

Espada by Montecristo is a spicy, 100% Nicaraguan premium cigar with a Habano Jalapa Vintage 2010 wrapper, a Habano Jalapa Vintage 2009 binder and a complex blend of Habano Jalapa Seco Vintage 2008, Habano Jalapa Viso Ometepe Vintage 2008 and Habano Condega Ligero Vintage 2008 filler tobaccos.

Like a sword, Espada is strong, bold and brave, yet still worldly and sophisticated. Altadis is honored to work with a tobacco family as renowned as the Plasencia Family. (from the company’s website)

Montecristo Espada is the first Montecristo line to made as a Nicaraguan puro. It is available in 3 sizes. This review is based on my first experience with the blend.

Prelight

I chose the shortest of the 3 available vitolas and I have to say the triple banding is a bit of overkill here. Of the 5” length of the cigar, roughly 1.5” of the wrapper is actually visible. The primary band has the traditional Montecristo Fleur de Lis branding, along with “Espada” underneath it. Then the second band has large postage-stamp-type perforation holes along the upper and lower edge and through the middle. It, too, has Espada by Montecristo on it, along with art of crossed swords and text attributing the blend to Grupo de Maestros and production to the Plascencias. Finally, the footboard against declares that this is “Espada” and a “Montecristo”…in case you forgot by the time you got all the way down to the foot of the cigar. I see from photos that it works a bit better on the longer cigars, but I still would have made the choice to ditch the footboard and just run with the other two.

The next order of business was removing the foot band as well as the humungous secondary band so I could see what the cigar looked like (also so I could actually light the thing up in a few minutes!). The wrapper leaf was a medium brown, with a nice amount of red showing through in the lighting in my office. I saw no prominent veins and the leaf felt fairly oily. I gave the cigar a good sniff and picked up a strong barnyard earthiness on the wrapper, while the foot had earth, cedar, and tobacco scents.

I clipped the end and tested the draw, finding it excellent. The cold flavors were of earth and cedar mostly, although there was a slight sweetness that was very nice.

Flavor

The Montecristo Espada started off with a smooth, rich mix of earth and cedar flavors up front, followed by a subtle sweetened cocoa powder and dried fruit note. There was a slight white pepper burn on the palate and a bit more pepper on the nose. After a few more minutes of puffing, I also picked up on some black coffee on the palate and nuttiness on the retrohale. The body started off in the medium range. As I finished up the first third and started into the second, I noted that the flavor of smooth, well-aged tobacco was first and foremost in the profile, although there was still a good amount of earth and cocoa powder underneath.

During the second third, the Espada showed a lot more cedar flavor, along with a slightly floral note mixed with the earthiness. As the third headed to a close the pepper started building up on the back of my tongue.

The last third saw more cedar, more earth and more pepper in a very pleasing medium-plus-bodied smoke.

Construction

I had to make a couple minor touch ups to the burn line, but other than that construction was just about perfect.

Value

This is another puro that shows the refinement possible with Nicaraguan leaf—and does so in a very pleasing way. Although a touch pricey, I would call it definitely worth the cost.

Conclusions

The Espada is a very good addition to the Montecristo line, slotting right in between the Monte and Epic in both price point and smoking experience. It works very well as another Nicaraguan puro of a brand that has mostly been known for Dominican-based blends (RyY from Romeo y Julieta and Davidoff’s Nicaragua are two others), showing the more refined side of that country’s leaf. It’s got most of the characteristics you would expect from Nicaraguan cigars, but in a medium-bodied smoke that won’t overwhelm those who have enjoyed the milder Montecristo lines.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10