Review Notes: On two years rest. Spongy, no soft spots, and an even coating of plume. This is the Mex version of the Habana 2000 wrapper, but you wouldn't know it by the appearance or burn properties. Thinly veined, supple and chocolate brown instead of the reddish hued H2K grown in Nicaragua. Well built with a dense ash. Toasty, easygoing. Peanut flavors come and go. Leather builds in around the halfway mark, as does a pleasant trace of earth. More interesting than the stick I reviewed six months ago. The value is still dubious, but this is a nice all-around smoke.

Review Notes: although the draw was rather easy this cigar really impresed me. Medium bodied cream and dark chocolate flavors dominate with some spice towards the end. even with the loose draw it burned slow and even. Very very tasty cigar.

Review Notes: The Russian nesting doll of the cigar world... you have to navigate through the painted box, an equally elaborate tube, a cedar sleeve with two bands... whoa... there IS a cigar in here! One you get over being pissed about two-thirds of the price being squandered on the packaging, this is an enjoyable smoke. The wrapper is nearly devoid of veins and even in color. The build is outstanding. Flavor is smooth, toasty, refined. With its Mexican wrapper and Peruvian fill, I expected this to have a little more punch, but I would characterize this as a breakfast or maybe a lunch smoke. Not my bag, necessarily, but still an above average mild-medium smoke. Beyond the obvious value issues, there's not much to complain about here.

Review Notes: The cigar has a Complex spicy and earthy taste to it. burned evenly

Review Notes: In Jul 06, I focused on smoking 5 different cigars, all of which were aging in my humidor for at least 6 months. I only smoke about 15 cigars a month, so value isn’t that important to me, but I’ll rate each cigar that way on this site. However, just so you know, value aside, the overall standings for the month were, 1. La Gloria Cubana Torpedo (maduro); 2. God of Fire by Carlito 2005; 3. Don Carlos Belicoso, 4. CAO Brazilia Samba; 5. Montecristo Platinum Mini Belicoso (tubos). This Montecristo was a huge disappointment. The draw was tight on all three that I smoked. The cigar had some good plume going, which led me to believe I was in for a treat but the flavor was weak and lacking of any character. There are simply a lot of cigars out there that are much tastier and much cheaper than this.