Montecristo No. 30: Review

Wrapper: Connecticut Valley
Binder: Dominican Rep.
Fillers: Brazil and Dom. Rep.
Size: 5 inches by 50 ring gauge
My Strength Rating: Starts off intense – 7; Mid-point to finish 5

I got this cigar at a cigar dinner fundraiser about two years ago. I smoked all the other cigars that I received from that sampler pack. For some reason this one is still sitting around so, let’s smoke this one up today.

Holy cow am I smoking a Montecristo? It starts off spicy spice, black pepper, and maybe I can call it bitter citrus. Remember, a characteristic of a coarse black pepper is a citrus note. The first third of this stick was fairly strong.

This cigar has some burning issues. It is canoeing on the burn. That is when one side does not burn and you have to keep on lighting it to get it to burn properly. A couple of times it wanted to tunnel on me as well. Tunneling is when it burns in the middle but is not burning on the outer edges. I had to continually keep hitting this cigar with the lighter in order to smoke it.

By mid-point the spicy profile disappeared and I was left with an earthy style. The earthy style reminds me of burnt soil. The texture was still a little on the harsh side.

This cigar needs a beverage to help control the mouthfeel.