Now you guys must excuse me this is my first review and am still "green", smoking regularly about 6 months or so now. Also relevant is this is my first Cuban gifted by a friend's mom who was in the US visiting and knew I had this hobby.

Well I grabbed this from the humi after about 4 days which seemed like 4 years and the first thing I noticed was how it felt in my hand. It is not a thich guage cigar but felt somewhat heavy and was pretty dense when I squeezed it slightly. After putting the guillotine on it and taking a look it did seem as if there was a good amount of leaf in there tighly wrapped.

The pre light draw seemed tight but had a very nice flavor. Now everyone refers to spice, which was present but it was a diffrent type of spice compared to the NC I have smoked. It was a flavorful sweetish spice that was not overpowered.

I had no trouble lighting it and once lit the draw was a little tougher than I would have liked but still yielded an enjoyable amount of smoke. It may be it was humidifed to much or perhaps to young? That sweet spice I had detected was instantly present and it somehow maintained its pre light aroma.

The first half inch or so was very enjoyable, the smoke was easy to taste and not overpowered or harsh. It had a very pleasant blend as if many flavors were in play but I could only distinguish the complete package at once. Perhaps in future reviews I will be able to dissect the ingredients.

The burn was somewhat even and the ash looked somewhat gritty, grey with some black
dotting.

I enjoyed this cigar tremendouly and it is defintely a favorite. I was surprised it burned for so long given the guage and I was sad to see it finish.

I noticed the band would not yield easily when I attmepted to remove it, which seemed odd as the No 2 I also received seems to have it easily removed.

The fun part came when I went inside the house and sat down. I felt somewaht nauseous for a few minutes, which was not so enjoyable. I think the great blend of the cigar claoks its strength. I had this experience once before with the Ashton VSG.

I have to write a disclaimer and point out its my first review and hopefully made some kidn of sense despite all the ramblings. I had not found one on the Monte 1 and thought perhaps other more advanced palates would add to this.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cadiell,

i enjoyed reading it. I still haven't gotten up the courage to do my first review. I'm waiting for a cigar to truly blow my mind before I do one.

Same, good review..I'm still waiting on getting out of Noob status before I post a review.

Nice review. From your description of weight, feel, density and ash, no doubt its a real MC1. Nausea is a typical first time reaction to strong CC flavor for NC smokers. I love the MC1, more consistent IMO than MC2 and MC4 (MC1 are less popular, so tend to be better made).

quote:

Originally posted by Cadiell:
I have to write a disclaimer and point out its my first review and hopefully made some kidn of sense despite all the ramblings. I had not found one on the Monte 1 and thought perhaps other more advanced palates would add to this.

Nice contribution and a good start. Even if nobody reads your reviews, it doesn't matter. You're taking time to reflect on the experience and in doing so, you'll become more and more articulate in describing what you see, feel and taste.

Thank you all for being so supportive, I appreciate the kind words.

No problem dude.. It takes a lot of courage to post your first review.