Manufactured in Nicaragua at Tabacalera A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua, the new Monte is available in four vitolas: Corona (4 by 44), Robusto (4 1/4 by 54), Toro (6 by 55), and Belicoso (6 1/8 by 54). The cigars come packaged in 20 counts boxes and will range from $10.50 and $11.25 per cigar.

You can purchase the Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez from our good friends over at Famous Smoke Shop. Use coupon code “CASASAVINGS” to get $15 off your order of $100 or more.

THE FACTS

Price: $11.00
Vitola: Toro
Size: 6 by 55
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo ’98
Filler:Nicaraguan Criollo ’98 and Dominican Piloto Cubano
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez is dressed in a medium brown Ecuadorian Habano leaf that is consistent in color. Some light oils and small veins can be seen on the box-pressed cigar. The cigar is very smooth to the touch and evenly filled from head to foot with only a slight give.

Bringing the wrapper of the cigar to my nose, I pick up an aroma of cardboard, earth, and sweet grass. The cardboard and earth are on the foot of the cigar with an added touch of black pepper. The lines on the double cap are nice and straight. Upon clipping, the draw has hardly any resistance as flavors of cardboard, rich cedar, and cinnamon greet my palate. A medium heat lingers in the mouth after the cold draw.

FIRST THIRD

The rich cedar from the cold draw translates right over to the smoke followed by some sweetness and a sharp pepper. There is also salt and citrus flavors. The Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez is producing a crazy amount of resting smoke. Even though the flavors and spice are full, the smoke feels somewhat thin in the mouth. As I make my way through the first third, the wrapper struggles to burn with the rest of  the tobaccos.

MIDDLE THIRD

As I enter the second third of the Monte, the rich cedar has evolved to more of a pine flavor. The pepper is not as sharp and the sweetness has stepped down a notch. There is also charred flavor on the finish of the smoke. The citrus is still hanging around in the background of the profile and later in the third the sweetness creeps back around. 

FINAL THIRD

The burn has been jagged for the majority of the Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez, but has been able to self-correct. The charred wood takes a more dominant role, with the pine flavor and black pepper trailing.

WRAP-UP

The Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez was a tale of two cigars. Two completely different smoking experiences from one sample to the next. The sample smoked for the written portion of the review presented an off-balanced profile with a sharp spice and burnt flavors that began in the second third and held to the end. The sample smoked for the photos was more consistent throughout with well rounded flavors and, rather than the pine and char, I found a nice sweet wood flavor that tied all the flavors together. Both samples showed medium to full flavors with a decent amount of strength. The competition is fierce at $11.00 and I am not even sure if the good experience would justify the price.

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The original Monte by Montecristo was first introduced in 2013 as a full-bodied departure from the more traditional, milder Montecristo cigars. The cigar features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over dual binders of Dominican Olor and Nicaraguan Corojo tobaccos. The filler tobaccos are derived from the Dominican Republic. Manufactured at Tabacalera De Garcia, three vitolas are available in the original Monte line to include Conde (5 ½ by 48), Jacopo No. 2 (6 ⅛ by 54), and Monte (6 by 60).

You can purchase the Monte by Montecristo from our good friends at Famous Smoke Shop.

THE FACTS

Price: $9.85
Vitola: Conde
Size: 5 ½ by 48
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Dominican Olor and Nicaraguan Corojo
Filler: Dominican
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

The Monte by Montecristo Conde is dressed in a milk chocolate Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that has a nice oily sheen. There is a good amount of veins and bumps on the leaf and the cigar is rolled evenly and firmly from head to foot.

There is an aroma of barnyard and chocolate on the wrapper, while a generic wood flavor and chocolate come across from the foot. The cigar comes to an end with a small pig-tailed cap. There is chocolate and potpourri spices on the cold draw that is a bit firm and a spice tingle lingers on my lips.

FIRST THIRD

The Monte Conde comes out of the gate with thick flavors on the palate. The flavors are on the darker end spectrum including notes of coffee, pencil shavings, and charred wood. These flavors are being complimented by a natural tobacco sweetness and sour grapefruit flavor. The spice is tame at this point with only a mild spice heat felt in my mouth. The cigar is burning evenly as a white ash forms. 

MIDDLE THIRD

The Monte by Montecristo is burning along well producing a satisfying amount of smoke. Coffee and charred wood remain and a new yeast joins in. There is still the contrasting sweetness that has stepped up a notch and that interesting sour grapefruit is still hanging around. The smoke is even more chewy and thick than it was at the start. As I near the end of the second third,  the burn is out of whack requiring a quick hit with my lighter. 

FINAL THIRD

The charred wood has become the most dominant flavor as I enter the final third of the cigar. The spice heat has only moved up to medium in the mouth, but it is closer to full in the sinuses as I retro-hale the smoke. The sweetness has taken a backseat to the sourness and the pepper flavor is more defined than it was earlier. The Monte by Montecristo comes to close with no further burn problems. 

WRAP-UP

I will be the first to admit, Montecristo cigars don’t do a whole lot for me. But there is no doubt that Altadis USA is trying to keep the brand in step with today’s consumer seeking fuller bodied smokes. And while I wouldn’t classify the Monte by Montecristo as full-bodied, but more medium, the cigar was still intriguing and satisfying. The darker flavors were balanced out by the sweetness and even the sour grapefruit worked well. There was only a single burn issue over the 1 hour and 20 minute journey. After this experience, I cannot wait to see where AJ has taken the Monte line with the Monte by Montecristo AJ Fernandez.

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The Good Stuff:

The Montecristo Relentless is a Famous Smoke Shop exclusive that states that though a bold experience will be “relentless” on your taste buds. The blend starts out with an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, Mexican San Andreas Binder, and a mix of Nicaraguan and Brazilian Mata Fina Fillers. The Relentless is offered in 5 sizes: The Churchill (7 x 56), the Magnum (6 x 60), The No.2 (6 1/8 x 52 torpedo), The Robusto (5 1/2 x 48), and the Toro (6 x 54). The Relentless comes in boxes of 10 ranging from $9.65 to $12.50 a stick and can purchased here directly from Famous Smoke Shop who is currently running a promotion that includes free bonus deals with a box purchase. Big thanks goes out to our friends at Famous for sending these bad boys our way for review.

Size: 5.5 x 54
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Mexican San Andreas
Filler: Nicaraguan / Brazilian Mata Fina
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Price: $9.65
Pairing: Keweenaw Widow Maker (5.2% Black Ale)

Prelight:

The Montecristo Relentless carries a smooth, silky, light brown wrapper that showcases some great natural oils. The wrapper is very thin, and very delicate with some very light veining and some darker, almost greenish-brown areas around the cap and the foot. The cigar feels very tightly packed with a bit of sponginess around the foot while leading up to a beautiful round triple cap. The Relentless carries the standard round Montecristo band we all know so well with a bit of a twist. First, the color scheme is pretty interesting using a yellow dominant color with red and black accents. Underneath the Montecristo crest band there is a red one with the word “Relentless” sprawled across it which lays over yet another more elegant black band with some spot-uv coated Montecristo Logos.

The Montecristo Relentless’s wrapper gives off some nice, buttery tobacco flavors with some light cedar while the foot of the cigar has much more spice and earthiness to it. The cap cut clean and easy using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw is very grainy/oaty with some soft spice and lots of cedar.

First Third:

I was expecting lots more pepper given the Nicaraguan fillers, but the Montecristo Relentless stared out rather tame in that department with only enough pepper to tickle my tongue. The rest of the flavor profile consisted of some strong cedar, cashew, soft spice, and a bit of that butter that I picked up in the prelight. The draw is perfect and plentiful. Each little puff kicks out a whole mess of thick, white smoke. the burn line is a bit wavy and a bit dense, but nothing concerning at all as I close out the first third of the Relentless. The ash left behind is a medium grey which is very tightly compacted holding on for over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Much the same into the second third of this Monte Cristo Relentless. Still lots of cedar and cashew over some slight spice, butter, and natural tobacco flavors. The body and strength remain both in the medium area while the nicotine is almost non-existent. The burn line has pretty much corrected itself and is now burning completely solid without the help of my torch. The retrohale is really smooth coating my nasal passage with some soft cedar and spice which actually helps add a bit of body to the experience.

Final Third:

Into the final third of the Montecristo Relentless and it’s still remaining true to the experience by delivering the exact same as it did when I first lit it up. That has it’s good and it’s bad depending on what you look for in a cigar. If you like medium/consistent smoked then this is perfect, but if you’re like me and you like bold/complexity this probably isn’t going to be your cup of tea. The burn has been perfect though and in the hour and a half it took to take this cigar down I never once had to reach for my torch. The finish was very soft and creamy too with absolutely no harshness whatsoever.

Overview:

While the Montecristo Relentless is a good cigar, it left quite a bit to be desired, especially in the flavor department. The cigar seldom switched up, and the flavors became pretty muted and muddy from the halfway point on. This may actually be appealing to those who want a solid, medium body cigar and especially those of you who are looking for a great morning coffee smoke. Flavor profile aside the Relentless preformed rather well in terms of construction and burn/draw experience. No touch ups or relights were ever needed and the cigar just quietly did what it was born to do. Taking that in consideration the price point for a cigar of that stature is pretty high on the Relentless and it’s probably not something I’d consider adding to my regular rotation.

Pairing:

I decided to pair the Montecristo Relentless with a brew that was brought back from the Upper Peninsula by none other than Mr. Jeremy. Big thanks dude. Keweenaw’s Widow Maker is a black ale found all over the UP that comes in a 5.2% ABV. The beer is a solid black ale leading with some nice roasted malt, barley, and caramel which finishes crisp with some slight espresso and chocolate. I’ve always been a fan of Black Ales especially when they are as solid as this one. The theory behind this pairing was the hope of brining a bit more dimension to the smoking experience, which it did by placing some great flavors that didn’t already exist in the cigar into the experience. I still think the best possible pairing for this cigar is a morning coffee or even some sweet tea.

Contest Winner:

First of all, thank you all who took the time to enter. Also, thank you guys for the support you have shown us over the years. YOU are why we do this and this site wouldn’t exist without you. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Now to the good stuff. We used Rafflecopter to pick a winner at random (It’s easy that way). The system chose, at random, Texican8! If you haven’t received and email from us yet, you will soon. Thanks again and be on the lookout as we are planning some more giveaways in the very near future.

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