Vitola: No. 2 (Torpedo)- 6.125” x 52 ring gauge
- MSRP $12.70
- Purchased at ????
Background
AJ Fernandez—as a man, a cigar blender, and as a cigar company—seems to be spreading himself a little thin. He has a constantly growing set of cigar blends coming up under his own AJF Cigars shingle. He has been collaborating with General for a decade a half with lines like Man O War, Diesel and Ave Maria, but in the last couple years, he has kicked that up with Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, and B&M-destined Diesel blends. He is still doing cigars for smaller companies. And he is expanding his collaborative efforts with Altadis. The Monte by Montecristo by AJ Fernandez came out last year. There was some other Montecristo project that I believe was online only, H. Upmann, Gispert and Romeo y Julieta lines. Today I’m looking at one of his newest works for Altadis: the Montecristo Nicaragua Series.
The Monte by Montecristo AJF used some Nicaraguan leaf, along with Ecuadorian Habano and Dominican piloto, but this Montecristo Nicaragua Series is true to its name, using just Nicaraguan leaf for filler, binder and wrapper. It has the distinction of being the first addition to the brand’s core lineup (which they define as the Classic, White, Original, and Platinum Series cigars) that was made in collaboration with someone outside Altadis. It comes in 4 sizes, including the classic No. 2 Torpedo size I am smoking today, all of which come in 20-count boxes.
I bought this stick when I was out in California, but I can’t remember which shop I got it at. I believe it was Islands Cigar Lounge in Brea, California, but I can’t be sure. I got some of my background from halfwheel and some from Casa de Montecristo. You can buy these sticks online from our sponsors, Small Batch and Cigar and Pipes.
Prelight
The Nicaragua Series being a core line, the boxes and bands very much keep with that core line design ethic. The boxes are paper-covered wood; the design features a black background with the red and gold Montecristo logo and “Nicaragua Series” printed on it, along with yellow edging which stays fairly consistent across the lines. The band is a twist on the classic Montecristo band, being black with “Montecristo” in red and just about everything else in gold foil, including the fleur de lis and “Nicaragua Series.” A second band is also common with other core lines, declaring the individual series the cigar belongs to. In all, it’s instantly recognizable as a Montecristo, and also quickly distinguishable as different from what we’ve seen previously.
The wrapper leaf was a medium brown, the color of peanut butter. It had some decent-sized veins in it, but the leaf was shiny and oily to the touch and smelled of cedar and clean earth. The foot was a rich earth Nicaraguan ripeness with touches of chocolate and coffee to the nose.
I typically stay away from torpedo-tipped cigars and have started using a v-cut when I get them. Wouldn’t you know I couldn’t find my v-cut when I started this cigar. I used a straight cut with a slant and was able to achieve what I thought would be a good draw throughout. The cold flavors were of wood and hay with a little earth and black pepper mixed in.
Flavor
The Montecristo Nicaragua Series fire up with a medium body and plenty of woody cedar notes right off the bat. There was a slight sweetness in the mix and a good fiery pepper on the nose, as well. Smoke production seemed to be fine, as was the draw. After a few minutes I started getting more pepper on the tongue, as well as a grassy flavor mixing with the cedar. Earth was a bit buried, which is a little unusual in a Nicaraguan puro, but I figured Fernandez was trying to fit this blend into the mix of other Montecristo core brands, so you wouldn’t want to see it be too aggressively Nicaraguan.
The slant cut didn’t last through the first third; I felt the draw tighten up a bit and went ahead and recut full straight across, which made it much better. Getting into the second third, there were floral notes coming though about even with the woody notes, pepper was increasing in intensity and earth was holding steady.
In the last third, the Montecristo Nicaragua Series got more earthy with cedar notes balancing that out a bit. The sweet floral flavor continued on just behind that and pepper reached its maximum burn.
Construction
Once I got the right cut the draw was fine. The burn line was very even and the ash was solid.
Value
The price point on these was right in line with other Montecristo core lines, if not slightly lower—and I enjoyed it more than any other of their core lines that I can remember—so I’m saying the price tag is worth it.
Conclusions
I would most compare this cigar with the Nicaragua releases from Davidoff and Cohiba—they use Nicaraguan tobacco while not abandoning the core philosophy of the lines they are in. All three are medium-bodied, complex and display more of the sweet, floral and woody notes of Nicaraguan leaf, while downplaying the more aggressive earthy and peppery notes. That said, I feel like this one didn’t quite come together until the last third, which I really enjoyed. The first two-thirds seemed like a preview of coming attractions and, while they were good, the cigar as a whole didn’t seem extraordinary or compelling. I did enjoy it, though, and would smoke it again on occasion.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
