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Review: Montecristo Petit Edmundo (x10)
12/06/2010I decided to ‘christen’ the box of ten Montecristo Petit Edmundo that I purchased in May. Its presentation and packaging is the ubiquitous wooden box, marked with a manufacture date of March 09 on its bottom.
Over the years I have preferred a brief smoke in comparison to the long hauls I’ve experienced with the Trinidad Ingenios EL (Edicion Limitadas) 2007s in their Cervantes format of 165 mm and a ring of 42.
It is due to this reason that I took a particular interest in the smaller formats and the Petit Edmundo in particular is a much nicer 110 mm with a ring of 52; in comparison, your garden variety MC No. 4’s Mareva format is 129 mm with a ring of 42 – the same thickness as the Trinidad earlier mentioned.
Interestingly, one takes the ring size/64 to calculate the width, or the thickness, in inches. The Petit Edmundo works out at 0.66 inches and therefore is categorised as a thick gauge. The El Rey Del Mundo Choix Supreme I reviewed in February was of the Hermoso No. 4 format at 127 mm with a ring of 48.
In terms of colour, this MC has a deep leathery tone, much deeper than that of the Choix Supreme or even the Por Larranaga Petit Corona; those were much milder smokes in comparison. Even the Davidoff 2000’s (Machine made in Geneve) are darker then the MC Petit Edmundo, but that is a whole different affair and one simply could not even begin to compare the Davidoff’s with a decent cuban.
Unfortunately, my hunt for sulphur free cigar matches is one that has yet to come to a conclusion and I therefore resorted to regular matches. I tend to avoid “lighters” as their fuel tend to be rather overbearing and do not want to ruin the experience as such. This particular cigar lit quite easily and drew quite well; it seemed to have good construction of the filler. Personally, burn and construction are my main concerns; the flavour – the raison d’être of cigar smoking – and experience tends to take care of itself if these are spot on.
I was able to quite easily discipline myself to an average draw per minute, whilst enjoying a coke of course, without the fear of it going out. Yes, its burn was good as well. On to the experience! Considering the smaller form factor, yet thicker girth, this 30-minute nicotine powered roller coaster ride was the most fun during the initial 20 minutes.
The beginning was extremely creamy to the point it had me wondering that this was going to be a rather mild smoke, with hints of cocoa. ~5-10 minutes in and it felt like I had started to reach the sweet spot with leathery tones and hints of spice mixed in with the MC’s signature bitter-sweet undertones. At around the 20 minute mark, the cigar was now in its stub form moment away from reaching the ring; it was evident that the fun had come to end. The draw deteriorated at this point and even the burn struggled; I no longer cared to continue as the best of it was history.
On the whole, I would say this was an enjoyable smoke, one that I definitely see myself indulging in from time to time. Some Remy XO swirling in a cognac balloon would have definitely had the carriage coming of the tracks…one can only dream :)
Next review: the Siglo IV Tubos Cohiba.
Review: El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme
21/02/2010The El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme is a hand-made Cuban cigar in the Hermoso No. 4 format, with its distinctive light coloured wrapper. I personally prefer using a quality guillotine cigar cutter. This particular cigar was constructed well and lit very easily whilst maintaining a consistent, slow burn, throughout the smoke. I only needed to take a puff every minute to keep it going, and it had no signs of extinguishing; a perfectly symmetrical head of ash formed at the end – sometimes as long as about an inch.
In comparison to the Montecristo Tubos, Por Lorrenaga Petit Corona, and the Davidoff 2000 in particular, I found this smoke to be very mild yet due to the slow burning nature of the cigar, it lasted a good 45 minutes. Notes of honey, creamy tones, and a floral taste were evident with a lack of spice. The flavour was maintained throughout till around the final 1/3rd.
The nicotine high was barely noticeable and I would highly rate once of these for a casual smoke. This particular cigar was enjoyed with several rounds of Glenfiddich 15-year Solera Reserve on the rocks.