Montecristo No. 2 from 2010 (Cuban)

So today I’m diving into the humidor to review something we’ve actually reviewed before. If you dive back into our history you will find a joint review that Tony and I did on a Montecristo No. 2 from a 2008 box.

Normally I wouldn’t re-visit the same cigar again but I thought this was a good opportunity to answer some questions and concerns about Cubans. A lot of people criticize Cuban cigars for not being very consistent year to year either in flavor or construction. There were definitely some year ranges that got more attention or praise than others so we’ll see how thye compare.

Another thing I sometimes hear about Cuban’s is that they need to be aged. The last Montecristo No. 2 we reviewed were about 2 years old so I picked the same age range here. Today’s cigar was produced 2 years ago, in 2010. So this should take the concern of age out of the mix.

Montecristo is obviously a famous brand and one that is commonly mimicked by fakes next to Cohiba and Romeo y Julieta. The most famous from the Monte line up being this cigar, the No. 2 and the very popular No. 4. so if you are shopping for these, keep yor eyes peeled for fakes because there are tons of them out there! So let’s see how this newer version stacks up to the older one we reviewed and I encourage you to read our previous review before going ahead with this one: Link here.

Cigar: Montecristo No.2 (2010 Box Date)
Drink: Dieu du Ciel Blanche Neige
Vitola: Piramide (6.125 x 52)
Wrapper: Cuban
Binder: Cuban
Filler: Cuban
Price: $30 in Canada; Just under $10 in Cuba
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The light orangey wrapper on the No. 2 has a nice oily shine to it
• There are some medium sized veins on these sticks but none of them look big enough to pose and problems
• There is a slight spongy feel to the whole length of the cigar, giving just a little bit when squeezed
• The foot seems very well packed and has a nice consistent tone to it
• The tapered cap has one leaf that blends right into the body smoothly

Burn:
• Toasting was very easy and even, the whole foot was glowing with minimal effort
• The first bit of burnline is a tad wavy but nothing horrible and it’s holding so far
• The burnline came around pretty quickly, and although not perfectly straight or razor sharp, it’s still staying within a safe range
• The No. 2 continues it’s funky but safe burn into the last third, also it’s letting me smoke it nice and slow to get the full enjoyment going
• The cigar finished up without any major issues and I was able to smoke it down to the nub without ever needing to touch it up

Smoke & Ash:
• Right from the first draw, I’m met with a nice mouthful of smoke
• There isn’t much in the way of resting smoke to notice but there is a light burning wood aroma coming off the cigar
• The ash here is nothing to write home about, it’s pretty dark grey or black
• In terms of cleanliness, the Montecristo No. 2 looks a bit weak but it doesn’t do much flaking
• To be safe, I tapped off the ash at about the 1 inch mark so I didn’t end up with it in my lap
• The next couple of ashes were in the 1 inch mark as well and still the dark grey colors
• Happy to say the smoke volume is staying nice and full, making it easy to just take a single draw and enjoy the cigar slowly

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper gives off a nice cedar aroma and a touch of light baking spices
• The foot gives more of the same cedar but there are definitely more baking spices noticeable here
• The pre-light draw is more of the same tasty notes, cedar and baking spices with a bit of earthiness here
• The initial draws bring a touch of pepper now and a little more roasted flavors, the lighter cedar notes are not present right now
• As the peppery notes die down, there is a flavor of burnt or roasted wood coming through right now
• The body has started off in the mild to medium range and there is a smooth cedar finish on the retrohale
• The baking spices started to creep in slowly through the middle of the stick, definitely some nutmeg and cloves in here
• Along with those notes came some nice light coffee tones that really balanced out the whole profile now
• The body built up a bit to the full range in the last half but the smooth cedar finish continued on the retrohale
• There was a build up of the coffee and baking spice notes while the subtler flavors died down a bit towards the nub
• There was no harshness at the end but the flavors definitely picked up intensity

Final Thoughts:
The Montecristo No. 2 is still one of my favorite Cuban’s and I already knew that going into this cigar. My hope was to give a good look at the comparison between this 2010 box and the 2008 box Tony and I reviewed here. On final note, I have to say the flavors here weren’t as refined as the older box was. Given they were aged for about the same time, I found the 2010’s to be a little more in your face and have a little more body to them. As for construction, they were fairly similar in quality, maybe the 2010’s have a bit of an edge with regards to good burn. The flavors are still tasty and if you like a little more strength you might actually like the newer boxes better. But for me, I’d probably seek out some of the older boxes if I could, but they are all probably gone now. Maybe a little more rest time will give them a different profile?

Pairings:
I thought this pairing was a perfect match for this autumn time. It’s by one of the great breweries in Quebec called Dieu du Ciel. The brew, called Blanche de Neige, roughly translates to “Snow White” and is a wheat beer brewed with cinnamon and cloves flavors. The awesome infusion definitely shines through in this beer and tastes amazing. It obviously has the cinnamon and clove flavors along with some night light malty and toffee like notes. Paired very nicely with the Montecristo No. 2, a strong coffee or some Port would have made a nice choice too.