5.25 x 54, MSRP $6.49
Dave Said:
Dave Said:
I believe my first cigar was an Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur. While it does not do much for me these days, I think it was a good place to start in the smoking world. Through the last 10 years I’ve enjoyed at different times nearly everything in the Hoyo de Monterrey lineup, but not being a big fan of overly-cedary cigars, I did not expect to enjoy this one much. General Cigar created a new process called “inmersión” to imbue these cigars with more cedar flavor than anything else in their line; because of the time-consuming nature of the process, quantities of this stick will be limited; however, I would like to point out that even though these will be available in limited quantities, the price has not been raised exorbitantly as a result. The filler is Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Dominican (Piloto Cubano), the binder is Connecticut Broadleaf, and the wrapper is an Ecuadorian Sumatra leaf. We would like to thank Victoria from General Cigar for generously providing the 10 samples (5 for each of us) that we smoked for this review.
Most of the cigar was covered by the triple bands and cedar sheath. Slipping the cedar off revealed an oily, toothy, leathery wrapper that had a slightly less than medium-brown color with some darker mottling. Most veins were small and unnoticeable, but there were a couple larger ones near the band. Giving the wrapper a sniff, I got mostly earthy manure aromas with…surprise!...cedar. On the foot I got a slightly stronger cedar note. My Xikar XI cleanly trimmed the cap, leaving me with a nice, clean draw. Not surprisingly, the predominant prelight flavor was cedar, but there was also a little sweetness, maybe cocoa or dried fruit.
Lighting was fairly easy with just a single-flame torch. Again, it will come as no surprise to anyone that woody, cedary notes are present right up front on the palate and the retrohale. What was nice was the mild sweetness that was also there on the palate and the white pepper that I also got on the nose. The cedar was not as strong as I feared it would be nor was it harsh and astringent as I have experienced in some other cedar-heavy sticks. The rest of the first third continued in much the same fashion, with plenty of cedary notes along with some other minor flavors popping up every now and then.
One thing that has been nice to note is the consistency of great construction on these sticks. Every one that I have smoked has had a great draw and very even burn line. While there was still plenty of cedar in the second third, I also started to get a nice molasses note as well. The retrohale had become more nutty with the earlier pepper spice declining.
There were no surprises in the last third—more cedar and continued sweetness along with just a little pepper on the finish. Overall, I was impressed by this latest entry into the Hoyo de Monterrey lineup—it did not blow me away, but it provided a steady, pleasing flavor from beginning to end. It was medium-bodied and should be able to be enjoyed by everyone from the newbie to the experienced smoker. Some longtime smokers might wish for more body or more complex flavors but I thought the Reposado en Cedros hit the mark nicely and at a price that is easy on the wallet.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
Keith Said:
Most of the cigar was covered by the triple bands and cedar sheath. Slipping the cedar off revealed an oily, toothy, leathery wrapper that had a slightly less than medium-brown color with some darker mottling. Most veins were small and unnoticeable, but there were a couple larger ones near the band. Giving the wrapper a sniff, I got mostly earthy manure aromas with…surprise!...cedar. On the foot I got a slightly stronger cedar note. My Xikar XI cleanly trimmed the cap, leaving me with a nice, clean draw. Not surprisingly, the predominant prelight flavor was cedar, but there was also a little sweetness, maybe cocoa or dried fruit.
One thing that has been nice to note is the consistency of great construction on these sticks. Every one that I have smoked has had a great draw and very even burn line. While there was still plenty of cedar in the second third, I also started to get a nice molasses note as well. The retrohale had become more nutty with the earlier pepper spice declining.
There were no surprises in the last third—more cedar and continued sweetness along with just a little pepper on the finish. Overall, I was impressed by this latest entry into the Hoyo de Monterrey lineup—it did not blow me away, but it provided a steady, pleasing flavor from beginning to end. It was medium-bodied and should be able to be enjoyed by everyone from the newbie to the experienced smoker. Some longtime smokers might wish for more body or more complex flavors but I thought the Reposado en Cedros hit the mark nicely and at a price that is easy on the wallet.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
While a Hoyo de Monterrey wasn’t the first cigar I smoked they played a major part in the early days of my smoking as they were a “name brand”, priced well and had good flavor. I was excited to hear that there was going to be a new line released that was a departure for the brand.
The first thing I notice about this cigar is that the band isn’t your typical HdM band. It has gold, orange, yellow and black colors with a picture of an angel holding what looks like tobacco plants at the center of it. Like the name suggests the cigar has a cedar sleeve that on this size covers two thirds of the cigar. From what I can see without taking off the sleeve the wrapper has a golden brown hue with a slightly mottled appearance. After taking off the sleeve, which comes of very easily unlike some other brands, the wrapper is of the same color although you get to see that there are some veins and some mottling. This sample didn’t have as much tooth as some of the other samples. As Dave experienced the wrapper is pleasantly oily to the touch. Giving the cigar a squeeze I noticed a slight amount of give without any soft spots. Putting my nose to the cigar I was able to get light aromas of hay and cedar from the wrapper with a heavier scent of cedar from the foot. After cutting the cigar and taking a cold draw on it I was able to detect a slight amount of cedar and a slight sweetness on the tongue with a good draw.
As soon as I lit it up the flavor of cedar hit me, especially when I retrohaled it. I was also able to detect a note of sweetness on the tip on my tongue with a little bit of spice on the back of the tongue. The draw was pretty much perfect with it producing a good volume of smoke. It was definitely medium strength at this point. The ash has a nice stacked looked to it and is very white in color. After I got about an inch in I got a slight cashew taste on the finish. The burn line on this sample is very even. The other ones I had weren’t this perfect but they weren’t bad. The ash fell off in about 1.25” chunks.
You might be able to guess what the predominate flavor of the second third is, and if you guessed cedar you’d be right. The sweetness was still there along with the spice. There was also a slight earthiness that started to come through as well. The burn and draw continued to be near perfect. At the end of the second third I was also getting a slight amount of creaminess to the cigar. The spice had almost died down by the end of the second third as well.
Entering the final third didn’t see much change from the second third. The band did come off easily. Unfortunately at that point I discovered a slight problem. There was a decent size rip in the wrapper. It didn’t seem to have any effects on the smoking characteristics though. The spice came back a bit in the tip of the tongue. The cigar still exhibited the cedar flavors with a slight cocoa coming through on the finish. The sweetness was still there but only slightly. The draw and burn continued to be pretty much perfect. The smoke was sort of light weight throughout the cigar, but the volume it produced was impressive.
I can easily say that this cigar was quite enjoyable. Like Dave mentioned it would be good for pretty much any smoker. A newer smoker or someone who like lighter strength cigars would feel right at home with it. Someone who prefers stronger cigars, like myself, would be able to enjoy this in the morning with a cup of coffee or anytime they are feeling like a lighter cigar.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
The first thing I notice about this cigar is that the band isn’t your typical HdM band. It has gold, orange, yellow and black colors with a picture of an angel holding what looks like tobacco plants at the center of it. Like the name suggests the cigar has a cedar sleeve that on this size covers two thirds of the cigar. From what I can see without taking off the sleeve the wrapper has a golden brown hue with a slightly mottled appearance. After taking off the sleeve, which comes of very easily unlike some other brands, the wrapper is of the same color although you get to see that there are some veins and some mottling. This sample didn’t have as much tooth as some of the other samples. As Dave experienced the wrapper is pleasantly oily to the touch. Giving the cigar a squeeze I noticed a slight amount of give without any soft spots. Putting my nose to the cigar I was able to get light aromas of hay and cedar from the wrapper with a heavier scent of cedar from the foot. After cutting the cigar and taking a cold draw on it I was able to detect a slight amount of cedar and a slight sweetness on the tongue with a good draw.
As soon as I lit it up the flavor of cedar hit me, especially when I retrohaled it. I was also able to detect a note of sweetness on the tip on my tongue with a little bit of spice on the back of the tongue. The draw was pretty much perfect with it producing a good volume of smoke. It was definitely medium strength at this point. The ash has a nice stacked looked to it and is very white in color. After I got about an inch in I got a slight cashew taste on the finish. The burn line on this sample is very even. The other ones I had weren’t this perfect but they weren’t bad. The ash fell off in about 1.25” chunks.
You might be able to guess what the predominate flavor of the second third is, and if you guessed cedar you’d be right. The sweetness was still there along with the spice. There was also a slight earthiness that started to come through as well. The burn and draw continued to be near perfect. At the end of the second third I was also getting a slight amount of creaminess to the cigar. The spice had almost died down by the end of the second third as well.
I can easily say that this cigar was quite enjoyable. Like Dave mentioned it would be good for pretty much any smoker. A newer smoker or someone who like lighter strength cigars would feel right at home with it. Someone who prefers stronger cigars, like myself, would be able to enjoy this in the morning with a cup of coffee or anytime they are feeling like a lighter cigar.
Body: 5/10
Strength: 5/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
Agree, disagree, or just have something to add to the conversation? Please feel free to leave a comment below!
Had one of these last night and I found it to be too one dimensional. The cap was really ugly , a square piece of tobacco slapped on the head, and it came off when I cut it. Cedar is nice in a mix of flavors but this seemed to be all I was getting. I will say it burned beautifully though. Not something I would buy again.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert but I liked this cigar. Nice even burn. Consistent to the end. I wasn't aware of the price but it is apparently reasonably priced.
ReplyDeleteJD