This 5.5×42, slightly box-pressed, maduro wrapped beauty came to me courtesy of a trade and while I’m usually pretty good at keeping track of what I’ve got in the humidors and where it came from I can’t remember for the life of me where this one came from. The wrapper was dark and oily and the construction was flawless save for one medium-sized vein running right down the back.
I must have turned it around 20 times in my hand trying to figure out where I was wrong but this cigar had an undeniable triple cap on it, something I’ve only seen on a very small number of high-dollar non-Cuban cigars. I even peeled off the top cap to make sure. Maybe a roller was having some fun on a Friday?
Pre-light draw was perfect and there was a refreshing sweetness to the wrapper which piqued my interest right off the bat. The first few draws were cedar and floral, worrying me a bit because I’m not a big fan of the cedar flavors. The cedar notes subsided right around the one inch mark replaced with more of the cocoa flavors I expect from a Fuente-rolled maduro. The burn is very straight leaving behind a firm and rather white ash. One thing I expected to see but didn’t was the familar “Fuente ripple”.
The flavors were consistent and enjoyable through the entire cigar, without the slightest hint of harshness. This cigar was recommended to me after expressing my pleasure with the affordable Tampa Sweetheart No 4 maduro and I would like to take this time to say thank you for the recommendation. The burn and flavors met and surpassed my expectations based on the TS No 4 and the construction on the Montesino was definitely superior.
I enjoyed this cigar right down to the nub, had I paid for it this would be the best $2 cigar I smoked all month. 🙂 I will definitely be picking up a box of these and recommend any budget maduro lover to do the same.
Damn, you let the cat out of the bag!
All the Montesinos I’ve seen have a triple cap.
Nice review!
How did I know you’d show up here? 🙂
This was my first Montesino and you can color me impressed, nice to hear the triple cap is a regular thing. Thanks for the recommendation!
No problemo Brian… have you tried the Bauza line… I’m not a huge fan but you may like it…
http://cigarjournal.blogspot.com/2007/01/bauza-robusto.html
Brian or Cigar Family Guy – Can someone explain to me (I’m sure I’m not the only one) exactly what “triple cap” means? Its purpose? Other cigars that triple cap? I’m in need of some education. Thanks.
Jerry,
The triple cap is used on almost all Cuban cigars and means just what it sounds like. There are actually three separate caps on the head of the cigar. There’s a good example in this thread at Club Stogie:
http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=54460
Take a look at the second picture, the two cigars on the left are authentic Cubans and have the triple cap while the other two are fakes and do not have it. Thanks to Wilkey (Ginseng) for the great write-up and pictures in that thread.
Most Don Pepin cigars have a triple cap, and apparently the Montesinos do as well.
It actually isn’t three seperate caps. The end of the wrapper is wrapped around the cigar twice and then a cap is put on head… I wish I could show you the video I have but the file is a monster… Wilkey’s picture is bang on.
Gotcha…so does a cigar with a triple cap mean the cigar is better constructed?
cigar family guy: I’ve seen it both ways, with the wrapper making two of the caps and one last single cap, and with the wrapper making one of the caps with two separate on top of that (maybe I didn’t look close enough?). I honestly didn’t pay enough attention to the second cap after I peeled the first away on this one.
Jerry: I certainly view it that way, it’s just that much more attention to detail that was paid by the manufacturer.
This guys from CA put it into words very well…
“It’s the style for finishing the cigar so that it does not unravel when you clip it. It is actually a small piece of tobacco cut into a teardrop shape that the torcedor incorporates into the wrapper towards the head of the cigar, that is rolled towards a tip. Once that is in place, a small cutout circle is applied to finish it off. There is only 1 cap, but the wrapping process gives it a different illusion (speaking of illusions).”
Thanks to both! I learned something new today and its a Friday!
cigar family guy: I guess I just haven’t paid close enough attention to the relatively low number of triple cap cigars I have smoked. Thanks for the additional information!
Pepin does a great triple cap… also check out the finish on his pig tailed cigars… The best cigar makers in the world come from Cabaiguan and that’s where he is from.
Thanks for the informative comments guys, a pleasure to read.
cigar family guy: Funny that you should mention that, I picked up a couple of Don Pepin Cuban Classic Petit Lancero 1977s last weekend with the pig tail cap. 🙂 Haven’t had one yet but enjoyed the Perla 1952s I’ve smoked.
Zee: Thanks! That’s quite the cute little one you’ve got there.
Our good friend George E over at StogieGuys.com seemed to have a different take on the Montesino while smoking the Robusto size:
http://stogieguys.com/2007/01/quick-smoke-montesino-robusto-maduro.html
Brian thanks for the review and insight on the whole 3x cap. Like Jerry I’ve never heard of such a thing and thought a cap was a cap was a cap…A couple questions:
1) Do you think maybe your Montesino was aged/stored differently and thus had a better result than the results over at Stogie Guys or maybe like Jerry said they got a bad one?
2) If the 3x cap add to the construction of the cigar why do think others don’t do it? Is more expensive to do?
3) One think I’d like to see more for you guys and I tell Jerry this all the time is whether you guys would classify the cigars you review as either for the beginner or the experienced smoker. Where does this one come in?
I’ve never given the Montesino the time of day. I use to think they were preying on people who’d think they were Montecristo. Now I know better.
Vic I’m going to leave #2 & 3 to Brian but wanted to respond to #1.
1) The thing with reviews, any review on any subject is that its so subjective to each individuals experience plus there are a plethora of “little things” that could make a cigar a bad stick. It could be also that Brian got a really good stick while George got the one that represents what they actually taste like. Thats why smoking 3-5 of a cigar and from different boxes/sources gives you the best representation of a cigars true profile.
Vic, I couldn’t agree more with Jerry on question number one. Taste is a subjective thing, there’s a chance one of us got a great stick and one of us got a dud, but there’s also just as strong chance that this just suits my preferences and not George’s.
2) I don’t think the triple cap ‘adds’ anything to the construction per se, it doesn’t make it smoke or taste any better. It just shows, to me anyway, that the manufacturer took more time and pride in the production.
3) Sorry Vic but I don’t really believe in ‘beginner’ or ‘experienced’ cigars. If anything, I think you should try all of the cigars as a beginner because that is how you become experienced. Now I don’t think a beginner should be trying to smoke strictly $9+ premium cigars, but they should definitely try them.
If you give it a try be sure to come back and tell us what you thought about it.
Brian – Your review got mentioned in Episode #96 of the DWSC. Thanks to Bob & Dale!
Vic,
One thing I’ve noticed over the last few years is Fuente quality has gone down the tubes, no longer do you buy a box and get 99% perfect smokes. I have a few boxes of different Montesinos and they have been terribly inconsistent lately. I guess that’s what happens when you start producing 35-40 million cigars a year.