Cigar Review: Montecristo Media Noche Edmundo

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Okay, this is a cigar I’ve been looking to try for awhile.  I don’t smoke a lot of Altadis products, but when Billy of Cigars Direct asked what to send for review, I had him throw some Montecristos in.  I’ve had my eye on these since they came out, but never pulled the trigger.  As a maduro fan, and these being the only maduro in the Montecristo line, the Media Noche intrigued me.  The Edmundo is a fat robusto at 5×55.

Appearance: I like the cigar band.  The blue and gold that replace the brown and white of the traditional Montecristo label really make this cigar stand out.  The wrapper is a bit closer to oscuro than maduro, if you ask me.  It’s quite dark.  There’s a fine tooth to the wrapper and it has quite a few prominent veins.  There’s a slight shine to it from the oils in the wrapper.  It’s a fat little sucker, which is pronounced by its shorter length.  The cap was okay, though you can tell it was a little too wet when put on, as the drying caused it to shrivel a bit.

Taste: This is a mild maduro at the beginning.  You’ve got your usual cocoa and leather, but unfortunately on both samples, I got a very heavy dose of ammonia.  This isn’t pleasant at all.  It leaves a very chemical taste on your lips.  I couldn’t find any aging information on this cigar, so it may be that these were recently rolled and just haven’t settled.  Anyway, the strength never really picked up.  The claim is that these are medium-full, but I’d be hard pressed to say these even made it into the medium category.  Strength is subjective though.

Aroma: This had a mild earthy cocoa it it before lighting it up.  It was decently aromatic.  The smoke itself was just a regular tobacco smell.  Nothing too bad, but nothing too great either.

Construction: As I’ve already said, this thing is fat.  So, with larger rolls you have the ability to get more inconsistencies and soft spots.  These sticks weren’t too bad, though there were a couple of soft spots.  These led to an irregular burn that weaved from side to side, showing slight canoing as the burn passed over certain spots.  It never got out of hand where I needed to touch it up, but it was quite annoying in its inability to stay straight.

Overall Impression: Unfortunately, the ammonia killed these for me.  I could get over the ragged burn if the flavor was there, but it just wasn’t.  Montecristo is a popular brand, though, and it has to be for a reason; maybe I’m just missing it.  I will say that this thing burned slowly.  It took about an hour to get past the halfway point on this thing.  It’s a monster.  I consider that a good thing, since you get your money’s worth.  At around $8 a stick you want it to last.

Cigar Rating:

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1. 

   JasonT says:

   February 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm

   My uncle bought a 10 pack of these on a CI special when they first came out. We both smoked one around Thanksgiving. I tasted none of the ammonia that you experienced, so I would put it down to age. To me, it has a unique flavor, especially for a maduro. It has a tangy background taste. I wouldn’t want to smoke them all of the time, but I’d definitely smoke one again. If it has had some resting time that is.
2. 

   Ricky says:

   February 27, 2009 at 12:31 pm

   I’m gonna have to agree that these need some rest… big time.
3. 

   tobacmon says:

   April 23, 2009 at 12:10 pm

   I also dis-like this blend and do not know what happened here–i am a fan of Altadis but this one really disappointed me–Good Call!