I, not being a fan of torpedo shaped cigars or full-bodied Cubans (yet), opted for the Montecristo Edmundo. Montecristo also makes a shorter version, the Petit Edmundo, which is also very highly rated for those who are shorter on time or prefer a smaller vitola. I have not  tried the Petit Edmunodo yet, but from what I hear, it hits the sweet spot sooner. Definitely on my to try next list.

Montecristo Edmundo

Construction

Beautifully constructed, this Robusto vitola named after Edmundo Dantes, the hero in Alexandro Dumas’ famous novel, “The Count of Montecristo”, a favorite reading for the torcedores of the Montecristo brand.

This is a large puro measuring 5.3 inches with a 50 ring. There is hardly any veins in the wrapper with no soft spots when gently squeezed. There is plenty of tobacco packed into this beast. The wrapper has a nice naturally, oily sheen and smells great. (2010-01-25 UPDATE: I found something quite interesting. Apparently the Montecristo Edmundos that come in the tubos are 50mm ring gauges where the Edmundos from a box of 25 are 52mm. Not entirely sure why the tubed version would be noticeably smaller.)

The cigar band is a very simple design, perhaps the smallest and least decorative of its other Cuban brothers. The band design is so boring and uninspiring (Montecristo name on top and Habana at the bottom with a Fleur in the middle) you could think the cigar was a counterfeit if not for the beautiful construction, the perfect triple cap, and the robust flavors.

I received the Montecristo Edmundo 3-pack that comes in a very nice package, complete the Country’s seals of authenticity. The Edmundo in the 3-packs come in a very attractive yellow metal tubo with the ornate Montecristo logo, the cigar name, and a bar-code on each. Inside, lays an Edmundo wrapped in a thin piece of cedar to help lock in the flavor. What’s great about the metal tubos is that they prevent the cigar from getting damaged when traveling with a stick. Normally I carry cigars i plan on consuming in a Cigar Caddy, but with the tubos I can travel light and not worry my cigar being destroyed in my pocket or bag. Even with the tubos, you’ll still need to place them in a humidor to keep them until you’re ready to enjoy them.

My friends and I have not had any burn issues with the Montecristo Edmundo. Once started, it keeps a very precise burn until the end, no corrections needed. The salt-and-pepper ash produced is solid an holds for an inch-and-half easily. Because of the size and how well it’s packed, it’s easy to get large billows of nice white smoke.

Flavor and Taste

The Montecristo Edmundo has a wonderful medium-to-full-bodied taste that remains unchanged except near the end. The flavors are buttery, with pepper, vanilla, chocolate with a hint of coffee beans throughout, but pickup more in pepper once you hit the last 1/3rd.

This is a cigar that you need adequate time to enjoy. Try rushing it and the strong flavors will kick your ass like gulping down hard Scotch, shot after shot. To truly appreciate this masterpiece, you need to take sips and let the taste flow around in your mouth before letting it out. I’ve tried to smoke these down to the nub a few times, but the flavors get too strong for me near the end, so generally I know when it’s time to put it down, it’s time to put it down. Also because this is more of a medium-to-full body cigar, make sure you have a hearty meal before enjoying one, or you will get sick.

The 5-pack of 3-packs (15 cigars) I have has a date code 2007 of making them 2 years-old (3 years, if you consider that the leaves are aged a year before being used) and from what I’ve read, can only get better with age.

Value

Purchased in a box of 25, the Montecristo Edmundo works out to $8.80 per stick. Purchased individually, the cost becomes a bit more on the pricey side of ~$13. Even at $13 a cigar, I definitely think it’s worth the value unlike the $36 Opus X Churchill I had.

For those who can legally acquire these beauties, they come as a single tubo, a 3-pack of tubos, a 5-pack of 3-packs (15 Edmundos), and a clamshell box of 25.

Conclusion

This has become one of my favorite cigars, so far. If you want to experience Cuban cigars at its finest, I would certainly recommend the Edmundo for its beautiful construction and yummy flavors. For $8.80 a cigar, you’ll be hard pressed to find even a Cohiba that taste as good for the same price.

Be sure to read other reviews:

• Cigar Inspector
• Cigars Review
• Stogie Guys
• Puff
• Cigar Bunch (YouTube video)

Montecristo Edmuno Gallery

Being so highly rated by so many, I knew I couldn’t go wrong with the RASS; my thoughts inside.

Ramon Allones Specially Selected (RASS)

Appearance & Construction

One of the very first things that stuck me upon opening my RASS box of 25 is the build quality is the most inconsistent of all the Cubans I’ve seen so far. No less than 3 of the 25 sticks had at least one defect or another from a broken wrapper or hastily rolled wrapper to poorly applied triple cap; perhaps I was just unlucky. Although when you reach in and grab a good, it’s damn good looking and feeling. The Colorado wrapper is a rustic brown color with few veins; it has less veins in the wrapper than compared to the H.Upmann Magnum 46.

The RASS exhibits a slight box-press, no where as well done as the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series cigars. There are very few noticeable soft spots when gently squeezed and looking at the foot of most of the RASS, it’s well packed with tobacco. There isn’t an issue with the draw, very easy to take in bellows of smoke. One thing I found interesting is that 2/3rds into the cigar, the cigar starts getting more spongy when squeezed unlike the other Cubans I’ve had, which continue to stay stiff when squeezed. So far, I haven’t noticed any issues with it. Of the four RASS I smoked so far, the third one had a very loose draw that felt like sucking air through a large straw; I should have figured that would be the case upon inspecting the foot and noticing that it wasn’t rolled as tight. It wasn’t until about the last third before the draw started to tighten up and become more smokable. Quality control on the box of 25 of the Ramon Allones Specially Selected (RASS) is lacking.

It's very easy to get an inch, if not more of ash sticking to the cigar

All four of the RASS I’ve smoked so far, I’ve found I’ve had to correct the burn many times as the RASS seems to burn unevenly, an issue I’ve never had with the Montecristo Edmundo. The RASS typically takes me approximately 45 minutes to smoke from beginning to nub. I’ve not had them go out on me.

I should also mention that the cigar box is absolutely gorgeous! The only other cigar boxes that are perhaps nicer than the RASS are ones by Cohiba. The artwork is very detailed on the cedar boxes from the Ramon Allones brand name inscribed repeatedly along the outer edges of the box to the colorful artwork that adorns it. The lid is held closed with a single small golden nail. After you splice the official Cuban state seal and the Habanos S.A. chevron, you pull the lid directly up and there is the official green and white warranty card. Underneath is a cover that is permanently attached to the box bearing the Ramon Allones seal with the first thirteen cigars nicely laid out with the cigar band properly facing up. Underneath those thirteen is a thin cedar sheet with the crescent cut in the upper right hand, when removed, will reveal the remaining twelve RASS cigars with a single white cardboard placeholder in the thirteen slot. The presentation I must say, is nothing less than beautiful.

Flavor

The one thing I’ve been reading about the Ramon Allones Specially Selected cigar is that it really young in taste and needs to be aged at least a few years to get it’s full potential. The box code on the RASS I have is March 2008 and I’m hoping that I can manage to keep my hands off a good number of them and let them sit in the humidor for at least another year and see if it gets better.

I found the pre-light draw to be bland: hints of tobacco and slight pepper, but that changes after a few puffs once lit. The most noticeable taste, to me, is the chocolate. There are also cedar and earthly tones.

One thing I found very pleasing about the RASS is it stays creamy, even right up to the nub, with no hint of harshness or harsh aftertaste but it doesn’t have the complexity of taste as the Montecristo Edmundo, my favorite cigar at the moment.

Value

From what I hear, a box of 25 for the RASS runs about ~$189 USD making it $7.56 per stick which isn’t too bad for a ~45 minute smoke. A couple of years ago, the RASS used to run for $135, which was an excellent price!

Conclusion

If the option was available, I would purchase a RASS box despite the occasional construction issues and the burn issues; there seems to be a bit of inconsistency between each stick in a box, at least for ones dated in 2009. I should note that for about the same price, one could get a box of the Montecristo Petit Edmundo (1-inch shorter than the Edmundo, and slightly shorter than a Robusto but thicker ring) and get all the great flavors that the Edmundo has to offer.

The RASS is a very good smoke when you get a good stick and it never hurts to have a few sticks lying around in the humidor.

Ramon Allones Specially Selected Cuban Cigar Gallery

© Smokingstogie.com

The Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva is beautifully constructed and comes in an equally beautiful display case. But the big question that lingers is: how good is a 100-point cigar? Check out reviews by SmokingStogie.com (with lots of great pictures) and World of Cigars.

Judging from the people who have had the opportunity to have one, it’s heavenly. Apparently the secret of the Cohiba Gran Reserva is the use of the Ligero leaf, the top part of the best tobacco leaves and since there isn’t much of the Ligero leaf on each tobacco plant, it takes a number of them to make a single cigar.

Be sure to checkout the YouTube video by Friends of Habanos:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Years later as I started getting back into this past-time and having had a number of cigar brands, I was beginning to understand and develop what I liked in terms of taste so I figured it was time to take a whack at the Opus X. I stopped into a semi-local B&M store at Valley Faire Mall in San Jose that I knew would have some in stock and ended up picking up the Opus X Reserve de Chateau, a churchill length cigar and it stayed in my humidor for a measly thirteen days before I decided it was time to try this baby out.

Fuente Fuente Opus X Reserve de Chateau

Appearance & Construction

First glance at the Opus X Reserve de Chateau and you can’t help but marvel at how beautifully constructed this vitola is: very few veins, very solidly built, no imperfections, with a great looking triple cap reminiscent of a Cuban cigar. In short, it’s a Dominican Republic cigar with the beauty of a Cuban.

The Opus X cigar band has to be one of the most beautiful cigar bands I’ve ever seen. Bold colors such as gold and red adorn the intricately designed band definitely letting you know this is no ordinary cigar, but a premium cigar. No detail was left out here.

I was able to get an inch and a quarter of nice white ash, a testament to the build quality, before it broke off when I accidentally placed it down a little too rough on my ashtray to take a picture.

Flavor & Smoke

After snipping off a bit of the cap and lighting the Churchill, the initial draw is very smooth. It is very easy to get a lot of smoke with this cigar given it’s length and easy draw. I would classify this cigar as a medium bodied smoke with the main taste being coffee beans with a touch of earthy taste, which lasted throughout. Just as a note, my beverage of choice was Diet Coke (usually is whether I’m smoking cigars or not).

After smoking the Opus X Reserve de Chateau for two hours, I finally decided to put it down despite having at least another 30-45 minutes left. The two main reasons for this was 1) it kept going out and the final time it went out, I was tired of having to re-light it, and 2) the predominantly coffee bean taste became boring to me. I can now appreciate cigars of the Churchill and Coronas Grande size such as the Cohiba Siglo III I had awhile back, changes taste midway keeping the smoke interesting and lively.

Value

At about $36 USD a stick, I found this cigar to be overpriced and this specific stick over-hyped, read the next section to see why I think so.

Conclusion

I was very excited when I purchased this Opus X Churchill given all the great things many have to say about the Opus X line, but sadly I was disappointed. For $36, you get a beautifully looking vitola with an equally beautiful band, but most cigar aficionados care more about the taste than looks.

One of the most annoying problems I was having with the Opus X was keeping it lit. It went out a total of no less than four times requiring constant re-light. I would take a deep draw every few seconds and had set it down twice for a mere ten seconds at most, take another draw and found that it was starting to go out. In one case, I was a able to save it and not have to re-light, but in the other four cases, I was left with a cold tobacco taste you get when a cigar has gone out and you take a deep draw. Granted it was a bit cold out (59 degrees Fahrenheit), but not windy. In the other cases it went out, I was holding it in my hand as I was watching video on my laptop. When it would stay lit, I had to spend quite a bit of time correcting the burn as one side would occasionally burn a bit faster than the other, couldn’t figure out why.

I’m willing to believe that quite possibly the Opus X I purchased might have been a fluke or I didn’t let it age long enough in my humidor, but I don’t think I will be trying the Reserve de Chateau anytime soon again, but rather I might try the Opus X robusto, since I’ve started becoming a fan of the Robusto size cigars.

Either the Opus X Reserve de Chateau is a rare cigar, or many do not prefer this Churchill as I’m not able to find many online reviews, but you can read the two I did find:

• Cigar Aficionado (rating: 92, also listed as The Top 25 Best Cigars of the Year: 2009)
• Cigar Monkey
• Cigar Friendly