PROLOGUE
I'm kinda a big deal, gentlepersons. Don't believe me? Ya shouldn't. But I will say this new Hoyo de Monterrey offering doesn't ship to B&Ms (and only to B&Ms) until April Fools' Day. Special thanks to CSA for the "hook-up" as the kids say.
THE CIGAR
Hoyo de Monterrey
Hoyo
5 x 54 Robusto
Esteli Habano shade (proprietary) wrapper
Ecuadorian Sumatra binder
Pennsylvania Ligero, Nicaraguan Esteli,
& Nicaraguan Ometepe fillers
Very substantial hand-feel, nice balance. For a 54RG, it don't stretch my fingers much. Packing is a medium+ density, even throughout off a Charmin squeeze. Oils transfer to paws freely. Schnozzing the shaft gets me lots of leathery tobacco with a dark cup of joe. At the foot, a spicy zetz of pepper is added.
Cold draw is a very nice medium tension. Very smooth and clean. Notes are red spice rack, pepper, leather, coffee beans. A notable dose of anise is there too, epis.
Packing density has softened a tick but still within medium+ range. Ash is pale to medium grey and on in a sheath. Burn is a bit wavy off a thin line. Room-note off a medium+ smoke out-put is very nice; a sweet heavy aromatic tobacco with a spicy clean note. Draw remains quite smooth.
-Full-bodied outta the gate. Strength? Not yet, I say ominously, perhaps.
Combustion and construction are very good. Pace is a bit rapid, but even. There's an occasional ribbon, but self correcting. Caramelized sugar ramps up now. Finish is long and sweet over a heavy tobacco note. Profile is -full still, but forging ahead. Ash darkens a notch. A seam loosens at the char. Strength is a -medium.
Burn is a bit more of a ribbon, but no touch-up is required. Pace has slowed a bit, so the self correcting has, as well. Smoke out-put has downed a half-tick. Room-note is sweeter. Ash is a tick more flake now. Toasting continues on all flavor notes. Strength up to a medium range. Profile to full.
Transition at the midpoint sees a good bit of flip-flop. Leather and espresso duck under cedar and the caramelized sugar. Caramelized sugar is now quite brown. Mouth-feel, which has been buttery all along, continues to be -- but now toasts further to a bit sharper of a thing. I get a black bread essence there. The anise/licorice comes in and out now as a vibe. Black pepper stays on enough to be a nice presence which aids in the cleaning up of borders -- an enforcer of flavor delineations. Also, when it hits mesquite and brown sugar, a BBQ sauce flavor teases.
We're full profiled, but light end of that spectrum. Still very flavorful. Full+ flavor, -Full body... dig? Dug. Smoked meat is harder to find, but savory bits remain clear and lip-smackingly so. Packing softens and flirts with spongy, but draw is perfectly unchanged.
At the band, we're keepin' on flavor truckin'. Ash pales an impressive bit and loses its flake. Line is almost dead even. Somewhere at the end of draw and just prior to finish, there's a heavy floral note. Strength is up to -it's getting hard to type. So stop, I shall.
Construction I
Combustion I
Flavors/Body T
Strength W
PRE-LIGHT
A dark oily thing. Densely chocolate to full city roasted bean complected with a leathery look. No under-hue; all right up-top and over that is a thick sheen, evenly so. A couple of frog eyes on the wrapper in the opening act. Some husky veins, running a bit more horizontal along the shaft than I like to see. Seams are at time looser than others and more visible. Nada egregious. Cap is a bit short and sloppy. Tobacco peeking out at its foot is a tad uneven with a shorter tuft or two. Its density is a medium+ packing; its complexion a few shades of autumn and a tick of brunette.Very substantial hand-feel, nice balance. For a 54RG, it don't stretch my fingers much. Packing is a medium+ density, even throughout off a Charmin squeeze. Oils transfer to paws freely. Schnozzing the shaft gets me lots of leathery tobacco with a dark cup of joe. At the foot, a spicy zetz of pepper is added.
Cold draw is a very nice medium tension. Very smooth and clean. Notes are red spice rack, pepper, leather, coffee beans. A notable dose of anise is there too, epis.
LIGHT
Woodsy, mainly charred cedar, on the foot toasting. Some coffee beans roasting. An overall spicy kick to the aroma. First hot pull is high-lighted by an interesting charred yet somewhat creamy cedar. Espresso is also a primary. Dense leather and its oils fill up much of the middling alongside a black pepper that instantly tongue-tingles. Underneath those notes, there's a sweet spice rack that saves the flavors from the dark abyss. Silly to say, but tobacco throughout. Heavily. Second hottie is retro-haled to a zetz and 3/4 of black pepper. A backing of sweet spices is there, too. Pardon me, gentlepersons, as I writhe in pain on the cement floor of my carport. Third hot pull shows more of that interesting sweet spice and a new cinnamon bent.Packing density has softened a tick but still within medium+ range. Ash is pale to medium grey and on in a sheath. Burn is a bit wavy off a thin line. Room-note off a medium+ smoke out-put is very nice; a sweet heavy aromatic tobacco with a spicy clean note. Draw remains quite smooth.
-Full-bodied outta the gate. Strength? Not yet, I say ominously, perhaps.
ACT I
Very leathery. Very espresso. Black pepper is there -- a tick less -- but there. Caramelized sugar and licorice hit the middling and give some great dark sweetnesses to the already sweet red spice rack. Burn evens and it's thickens to a medium. Packing holds well. Very calm food smoke while resting, but really springs to life on a pull. Cedar note delineates and is a sweet buttery-toasted thing. Very nice note. Leather is fantastic. Like an old oily club chair. Black pepper is now a weaving in and out presence, and sauteed in the oil.Combustion and construction are very good. Pace is a bit rapid, but even. There's an occasional ribbon, but self correcting. Caramelized sugar ramps up now. Finish is long and sweet over a heavy tobacco note. Profile is -full still, but forging ahead. Ash darkens a notch. A seam loosens at the char. Strength is a -medium.
ACT II
Mesquite hits sweet and toasts well. Great balance there. Up-top is rich smooth espresso and a leather that reaches up from the middling. Rest of middling is a high up sweet creamy toasted cedar and that mesquite. There's a bit of smoked meat savoriness. Caramelized sugar, slight red spices, and no more black licorice. Underneath is all tobacco, gentlepersons. Dark and quite high. Very rich, this Hoyo offering. Very yum. Tingle leaves tongue. Some compost is on the finish. Finish is not entirely clean, but tasty... mainly toasted sweet notes.Burn is a bit more of a ribbon, but no touch-up is required. Pace has slowed a bit, so the self correcting has, as well. Smoke out-put has downed a half-tick. Room-note is sweeter. Ash is a tick more flake now. Toasting continues on all flavor notes. Strength up to a medium range. Profile to full.
Transition at the midpoint sees a good bit of flip-flop. Leather and espresso duck under cedar and the caramelized sugar. Caramelized sugar is now quite brown. Mouth-feel, which has been buttery all along, continues to be -- but now toasts further to a bit sharper of a thing. I get a black bread essence there. The anise/licorice comes in and out now as a vibe. Black pepper stays on enough to be a nice presence which aids in the cleaning up of borders -- an enforcer of flavor delineations. Also, when it hits mesquite and brown sugar, a BBQ sauce flavor teases.
We're full profiled, but light end of that spectrum. Still very flavorful. Full+ flavor, -Full body... dig? Dug. Smoked meat is harder to find, but savory bits remain clear and lip-smackingly so. Packing softens and flirts with spongy, but draw is perfectly unchanged.
ACT III
Black pepper and mesquite are a bit of a drying tandem on my tongue. Notes are all in locked step post transition. Seams continue to loosen some ahead of burn, nothing terrible. Just a very tasty stick. I'm very impressed with the balance and complexity in such weighted notes. Packing is somewhat spongy now, but all else toward construction holds. Cool mouth and very buttery sweet. Smoke is starting to pour off the foot again. Room-note is a bit spicier but still sweetly aromatic.At the band, we're keepin' on flavor truckin'. Ash pales an impressive bit and loses its flake. Line is almost dead even. Somewhere at the end of draw and just prior to finish, there's a heavy floral note. Strength is up to -it's getting hard to type. So stop, I shall.
SMOKE TIME
80mins
NOTES
Great price point for a very satiating and deeply flavorful smoke. Maybe not quite a celebratory stick -- but a near unbeatable addition to yer regular rotation. Blue collar no-nonsense with a hint of panache. A plumber who loves opera.
PAIRINGS
Booze. Hooch. Port. Manischewitz. Sarsaparilla. Cuban coffee.
K A P L O W I T Z SCALE
K being the least, Z the greatest
Appearance WConstruction I
Combustion I
Flavors/Body T
Strength W
FINAL GRADE
****A-****
EPILOGUE
A pleasant surprise, this Hoyo. I'd like another, but now I must wait until April first -- as if I were some sort of commoner. Thanks for reading, gentlepersons.