Review Notes: medium bodied. Excellent taste. easy draw.

Review Notes: in response to the lengthy first review: It is simply not fare to rate or analize a entire line of cigars when one has only smoked one. I have smoke an entire box of these and they are great cigar, with cocoa and vanilla notes. I have never detected any grassy, green notes. sounds to me like a cuban imposter. A large percentage of all cubans purchased in the US are fakes. So put that in your pipe and smoke on it.

Review Notes: Having only smoked a handful of ISOMs, I submit this review for others, who, like me, are not yet experienced with them, and it may be that this review isn't really fair because I need to try a few more of these. However, since one of the great features of Top 25 is the honesty of the reviewers, here goes: I tried to light this Monte, but it was so plugged it wouldn't draw. I was forced to pierce it with a skewer to get any smoke, because I damn sure wasn't chucking a $10 cigar. Unfortunately, this mechanical solution cracked the wrapper, which was very messy, and the stick kept re-plugging anyway. About a year ago someone told me Canary Islands cigars tasted "grassy". I now understand what that means. But there were also hints of sweet vanilla, and I hope, after letting these sit, that the rest of the box will develop into really pleasant smokes. What I found a bit disturbing is that I've smoked non-Cuban closeout cigars at about a tenth the price which tasted really close to the few nice flavor characteristics I derived from this. I suppose I should have rated the "overall experience" a 10 just for how much this cigar has given me to think about.

Review Notes: Picked up a 5 year old Especial No. 2. Beautiful cigar, clipped it with my Palio, pulled a 2 inch piece of string out, and lit it up. Draw was geat, burn was just perfect. Taste was just wonderful, creamy, wood, leather, earth, some spice.

Review Notes: Ok I am now a convert. After having some less than stellar monte's I broke down and bought a box of my own and hit a homerun. Now I see why this is considered a great cigar. Great even burn well made with a nice creamy flavor building to a mild spicey flavor for the finish. I did not want this cigar experience to end. Obviously consistency is a Cuban problem but if you get a good box you can't beat this smoke.