Hi, new guy (just introduced myself on the cigar talk forum) and I have some pretty noob questions.

I have almost zero cigar experience, so I don't necessarily have the vocabulary nor the experience to be able to communicate what I'm experiencing in a cigar yet and I am asking for a bit of help.

I have some Montecristo #4 habanas I picked up in CA which for obvious reasons I won't be able to replace easily anytime soon so I'm planning on saving them for special occasions. In the interest of finding something non-cuban that I can compare to it and more easily lay my hands on, can someone help me describe them?

What I get from them with my limited experience is a dense rich creaminess, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon... There's a bit of sweetness to them that I can't seem to describe well.

As for strength, I have no idea where these lie on the strength scale. Are they mediums? Milds? They have one hell of an aftertaste when I'm done, I spend the entire next day chewing on the taste even after brushing my teeth multiple times (the only part of the cigar I don't particularly care for).

So, basically, my question is what is the strength profile of these and can someone help me better describe the taste so when I go to my local B&M I know a little more about what I'm talking about and what to ask for?

Thanks!

-- Gary F.

CA describes them as "very flavorful, with rich cedar, leather and earth notes and a good amount of orange peel. A leathery, medium-bodied smoke."

BTW, when you say "I have some Montecristo #4 habanas I picked up in CA", do you mean Canada, or California?

Sorry, I mean canada.

-- Gary F.

Welcome to the forums Gary, the Monte 4 is a very good, consistent cigar that delivers the typical montecristo flavor with a very good price. I would say they are medium bodied cigars, although you won't be able to find a cigar with the montecristo flavor profile in non cubans I would suggest that you try the following cigars. The one that I think you'll find the most resemblance is a Don Pepin Garcia JJ (white label) Belicoso, they are medium bodied cigars with good complexity and a creamy, sweet coffee core that you'll enjoy. These cigars really benefit if you sit on them for a month or two, especially the young ones as they quickly loose a lot of the harshness in my experience of smoking them. Of course, I think you'll enjoy a Diamond Crown Maximus, very expensive but a good cigar. You'll also enjoy Tatuaje, Cabaiguan, and most of the Don Pepin Garcia stuff.

Thank, I'll add those to my "to be tried" list that I'm starting to compile

-- Gary F.

Hi Gary,

Uh, are you a citizen of the U.S.? If you are, AND "Foster" is your real last name, you may not want to post a message with your name on it admitting to breaking the law. Just a minor thing, but since it looks like you may be new to cigars, and nobody else here brought it up, I figured I'd help ya' out!

Being a newbie I'll take that advice, but I hope you won't mind if I take it with a large grain of salt as well.

While it's probably not wise for me to yell something from the rooftops, I also am aware that the chances of (a) getting a call from customs and (b) getting convicted of anything based upon my posting on the forum here are not something I'm going to now suddenly be terrifed over

However, I thank you for the advice and spirit it was offered in and I'll endeavor to not hang myself if possible. Now, let me see if I can update my profile to remove my last name, lol.

Edit: I might add, that anyone who posts here can easily be tracked down whether they have their last name in their profile or not. Anyone with an email address displayed can easily be tracked down through their email provider, and the feds can subpoena IP address for posts which can be easily matched to postings and people who posted from those IP addresses as well.

There's almost no such thing as being anonymous on the Internet anymore (there are ways to completely sanitize a post, but it requires a level of paranoia that goes far beyond simply not posting your last name).

Not meaning to say that your advice isn't well meant or appreciated, just meaning that if they really want to bust someone for posting in these forums that they smoked a cuban cigar while on vacation in Canada, this would be a pretty target rich environment. Luckily, they either realize the futility of such an endeavor, aren't too concerned about it, or believe in their heart of hearts that the cuban embargo is just as stupid as undoubtedly some of us believe it is

On that note, I truly do appreciate your advice and I'll try to keep it in mind and not yell from the rooftops. It *is* a valid point. Thank you.

-- Gary F.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gary Foster,

Hey Gary, welcome.
I saw you have a small 20ct humi.

First, get a bigger humi =)
Second, if a cigar isn't stored properly it may leave a bad aftertaste. Just something to think about.

Yep, I'm already figuring out I probably should have bought a bigger one, lol.

-- Gary F.

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Foster:
Yep, I'm already figuring out I probably should have bought a bigger one, lol.

-- Gary F.

Wine Coolerador, especially if and when the embargo is lifted.