Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano (Jalapa) Vintage 2010
Binder: Nicaraguan Habano (Jalapa) Vintage 2009
Filler: Nicaraguan Habano (Jalapa) Seco Vintage 2008, Nicaraguan Habano (Jalapa) Viso Ometepe Vintage 2008, Nicaraguan Habano (Condega) Ligero Vintage 2008
Size: 5 x 54 “Ricasso”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $11.00

Today we take a look at the Espada by Montecristo

It comes in three sizes:
Ricasso: 5 x 54
Guard: 6 x 50
Quillon: 7 x 56

From the Montecristo web site:
“Constructed with 100% vintage Nicaraguan tobaccos specially aged by the Placensia family and expertly blended by the world famous Grupo de Maestros, Espada by Montecristo offers a bold, spicy and deeply satisfying smoke. Espada, which means “sword” in Spanish, is the first Montecristo with all of its tobacco coming from Nicaragua — a country celebrated for its robust and sweet tobaccos.”

This is the first Nic puro made by Montecristo. It debuted at the 2014 IPCPR trade show.

Montecristo apparently decided to adorn this blend with every piece of foo foo gingerbread cigar bands imaginable. Out of the 5” length of the cigar, only 1-3/8” of wrapper is visible. And since I have only one of these sticks, I better be very careful removing them if I want to immortalize them in photographs.

Here goes. Oh crap! The white subpoena, with the band showing the crossed swords and the name Espada are one piece. They are like blotter paper. This means that the glue will have caused the bands glued to themselves as “One.” I use my X-Acto blade and of course nick some wrapper. I am going to pay for that later. But at least it is closer to the foot than the cap.

It is a nice looking stick. Nothing extraordinary about it. A medium brown oily wrapper with a touch of tooth in some places and smooth as silk in others.

The triple cap is one of the most impeccable ones I’ve seen. Seams are totally invisible and not a lot of veins. I might also add that the circumference of the cigar is nearly a perfect circle 1/32”+/-.

I clip the cap and find aromas of strong floral, spice, sweet earthy tobacco, and some cedar.
Time to light up.

The first puffs are nearly a flavor bomb. Cocoa, strong red pepper, lemon citrus, exotic spices, coffee, creaminess, sweet cedar, nuttiness, toasty, and very leathery.
Wow.

And as usual, one elusive flavor evades my palate. To be continued….

Yesterday, I reviewed the Pressoir by Chinnock Cellars. Bought both at the same time. Both got very little humidor time; maybe a week. All I got from the Pressoir was a late stage blossoming and nothing really special that I couldn’t get from a good $6 stick. The Espada by Montecristo is shot from a cannon at the very first puff.

And the kicker, of course, is that both are the identical price. I know the Pressoir has won awards and is thought of highly. But not without 3 months of humidor time. I’ve had the Espada by Montecristo for days compared to months and I can’t believe I was able to wait this long to review it. It sang to me each time I opened the humidor. “Review me, Katman. Smoke me Katman.”

This is some cigar. And I still have 4-1/2” to go. Huzzah.

It’s supposed to rain so it is dreary but I manage to get a couple normal shots off from my camera. The third photo is shot with a flash so you can see the oiliness of the wrapper that doesn’t show without sunlight.

This is a solidly jam packed stick. I am at ½” burned at it has taken me 10 minutes to get here.

Here are the flavors: Creaminess, cocoa, coffee, red pepper, lemon citrus, Indian spices, sweet cedar, nutty, toasty and full of leather (Like my bedroom closet).

Now here is a cigar that I will recommend highly to you dear readers. It starts with a band and just keeps on keeping on throughout the smoke (I am guessing here.). I bet this becomes a killer after a couple months.

This is controversial but I am going to say it anyway. I found that aging cigars for extended periods of time takes the wind out of their sails. They mellow too much.

I’ve found that with a “good cigar,” a couple months is all that is needed and should be smoked then while it is hanging on to shreds of fresh rolled flavors that give the blend some real zippity do dah.

I’ve been blessed by received cigars from readers who took the time to really age the cigars. And I found myself, for the most part, smoking cigars that are a mere shadow of their former selves. A 601 La Bomba that is medium bodied, etc. It’s been so long since I’ve had enough sticks to let them rest for a bit, I forgot about this aging thing.

But that’s just me. Obviously, most people like the effects a long sleep bring to a cigar blend. So shut the fuck up Katman.

Back to the Espada by Montecristo.

We have real bona fide flavor bomb status as the second third begins. It probably started earlier than that but I was futzing around with the photos.

I did some major damage to the wrapper with my blade. That goddam double cigar band was the culprit. There was no other way to get it off in one piece. The only other way was to rip it to shreds…which in hindsight, I should have done and the hell with the photos. The damage is on the back side of the stick so we shall see how long it stays there.

There is a lovely sweetness that permeates the entire flavor profile of the Espada by Montecristo. The citrus is a perfect counterpoint.

Coffee usurps the cocoa flavor and moves to the front of the line. The spice has diminished to the point of barely being there. It now is a mocha java experience… bittersweet chocolate overtones enhancing a rich complexity.

The strength is classic medium body.

I read in a couple of places about the “Cuban twang” that this cigar has. I’m not so sure. Everyone’s palate is different.

I’m ½” from the halfway point and have invested close to an hour of smoke time.

The spiciness is now just a memory.

The price point. Yeah, it is expensive. But considering this is Montecristo and is a special new blend for them, the $11.00 is not an outrageous price. Montecristo cigars are never cheap and with all the hoopla and PR machinations, the Montecristo folks could have gone for the jugular and added a few bucks to the price. But they didn’t. They should get some credit for that. This is truly a fine, fine cigar.

The Espada by Montecristo surprised the hell out of me. Whenever I see a cigar covered in advertising banners, I think, “Uh-oh. There is a reason for not just placing a simple cigar band on the cigar.”

But in this case, while I think all that crap was unnecessary, it wasn’t hiding a dog turd lurking in the grass waiting for you to step on it.

I’ve had no burn issues since that early one. I am sad over the cut wrapper but that is water under the bridge and my fingers are crossed it doesn’t get worse.

I don’t think I am going to make it to the end of the stick as the crack keeps traveling.

Pretty soon, it is going to look like a tostada.

I just pass the halfway point and there is a flavor explosion.
New flavors join the party: caramel, spearmint, and apple butter.

The red pepper returns and seems to be building.

What a cigar. No kidding. If you find them in your local B & M, pick a couple up. I’m sure they are online as well.

The new flavors really bring out the lemon citrus.

The last third begins. I’ve now invested 1-1/2 hours in the Espada by Montecristo.

Hard to believe a big robusto would provide so much smoke time. Clearly, tobacco packing was not skimped on.

I check some other reviews, and as usual, they are all over the place. About half of them really don’t like this cigar. And others fell in love with it.

That is another reason for only picking up a couple. At $11.00 each, you don’t want to buy a 5 pack or box and then say to yourself, “The Katman asshole doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” I get that a lot.

The last third is the sweet spot. Complex and chewy.

As a whole, it is difficult for me to describe what is happening. Complexity is good but trying to identify the flavor lasers is hard to put into words. I like how Cigar Aficionado can use one sentence to describe a good cigar. If I could do that, you would have finished this review half an hour ago and gotten on with your day.

Thankfully, the main cigar band slips off easily. The crack seems to be behind me now.

I was concerned that the removal of the main cigar band would enhance the cracking. I got off easy.

This is quite possibly a magical cigar. If the Espada by Montecristo can taste this good after only a week, imagine what four weeks will do.

Despite the kind of pricey cost, I highly recommend the Espada by Montecristo. This is several steps better than a very good $6 cigar. This is a cigar that will really impress your friends.

The strength hits full bodied.

The cigar finishes without a hint of harshness or heat. And lawdy, lawdy, no nicotine.
In my book, this a mighty fine cigar.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars, espada by montecristo cigar review, montecristo cigars