Hoyo De Monterrey Excalibur Legend
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012Back for another random cigar review. I spotted this cigar at a local shop, picked some up, and here we are. This cigar is said to have been “Designed to appeal to those tenured smokers demanding a full flavored smoke.” This is simply quoting General Cigar’s website. I paired this cigar with water. Let’s see how it went.
Wrapper: Honduran Claro
Binder: Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican
Filler: Connecticut Broadleaf
Size: Crusader 5.75 x 45
Price: Around $7.00
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The shiny wrapper had no real flaws. It had a somewhat veiny and rugged look to it though. The wrapper had a cedary and earthy smell, and the foot was more of a plain natural tobacco. The cigar was well packed to a rock solid feel. There were some harder spots here and there, which raised concern about the draw. Luckily the draw was decent. It had some resistance but fell within my tolerances. The pre-light flavor was earthy and woody.
The ash held for under an inch, and the burn required several minor corrections.
Flavor:
The most noticeable thing about the first third was the peppery zing when passing smoke through the nose. Next up was an earthiness with a sweet creaminess. The flavors were simple, but they were well refined.
The second third calmed down a bit in terms of peppery spice. The smoke was sweet and creamy, yet it had a dry crisp finish. The earthiness fell way in to the background. At about the half way point, cedar joined in. This crisp dry feel left me craving water.
The last third didn’t really offer anything new. The creaminess diminished, which left a spicy sweetness with a dry cedar flavor. Otherwise, there wasn’t a lot of change to mention.
Conclusion:
As you probably gathered, I liked this cigar. It had some negative aspects, like the dry feel that left me with some cotton mouth. But the flavors were good, and construction was decent. It didn’t wow me, but it didn’t disappoint.