NAME: The Monte by AJ Fernandez
DATE: 11-14-2020
RATE: 89
PRICE: $9-$10
STRENGTH: 1 2 3 (4) 5
REVIEWER: Aaron M. Paoletta – www.lavegalounge.com
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AJ Fernandez, one of the worlds greatest master cigar blenders, dabbles in creating another legendary Cigar when he created the Monte by Montecristo by AJ Fernandez. yes, I know, it’s an extremely long name, but this is AJ‘s take on the Montecristo line. And the one thing he aimed for is a good, strong and memorable Cigar.
Never have I had a Montecristo cigar in my life that I did not enjoy one way or another. Everyone of them was good and unique in its own way. The Monty by Monte Christo is no different. I wanna start with the shape. A torpedo and box pressed. both of which I am a huge fan. I absolutely love torpedo shaped cigars and I am a massive fan of boxpress The Cigars. Having them both put into the same stick, just enhances the smoking experience tenfold.
This cigar has a wonderful Medium dark chocolate brown Ecuadorian habano wrapper. It also has a Criollo 98 binder with a Criollo 98 and Piloto Cubano Dominican filler that in my opinion has been age to absolute perfection. It looks absolutely stunning. As for the aromas, I was getting an earthy smell which you get mostly from every single cigar on the face of the earth, but there was something underlining in it that I just could not place my finger on. I’ve come to figure that it might be chocolate.
Now as far as the taste profile goes, in the first third I immediately tasted a spice. Red pepper or white pepper, I couldn’t quite figure that one out. I also tasted Coco and soft earthtones but 10% of the way through the first third the pepper deceased and I did not taste it again. That is very odd considering I’ve never had a cigar that lost its spice or any flavor profile that quick in the cigars life. 10% in is a little strange. As we move into the second third I would say the flavor kicked into more of a cinnamon as the primary. The Coco and earth notes were now put in the secondary position. But as we roll into the final third the flavor profile is now switching again. The earth tones have now moved into the primary, the Pepper has come back with a vengeance and now it’s turning a little bit more herbal with the cinnamon completely disappearing and there is a creamy caramel note aswell. This blend of Dominican and Nicaragua tobacco’s as well as Dominican fillers and Ecuadorian fillers all combined with a Habano wrapper makes for a nice medium to full flavored stogie that I quite enjoyed. I will here however say, this cigar is not for the novice smoker. The flavors are intense as well as the strength profile. Be very cautious if you are a newbie as this cigar will knock you on your ass.