Cigar Review: Montesino Maduro Robusto

TweetI’m a big fan of the Montesino natural line so I’m excited to try the maduro version of it. It is made by Cigar Family, maker of the famous Fuente cigars. It is a nice dark maduro with a rough veiny wrapper and measures in at 5×50. Oh and sorry about the pictures, I will try to update them when I get my better camera back.

The Cigar Family site has this to say about the Montesino line:

Montesino cigars have been part of the Fuente family for a very long time. In 1980 Carlos Fuente Sr. and his son Carlos Fuente Jr. began making cigars in the Dominican Republic. Among the first cigars to be made in this new factory were the very successful Montesino cigars. Montesinos were originally made in a few limited sizes, with either Connecticut Shade natural wrapper or Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper. of which today, a few of these original sizes are still produced, most notably the Gran Corona, # 1, Cesar #2 and the classic Diplomatico.

In recent years as the Fuente family has trained more rollers and aged more tobacco, they have expanded the lineup of the Montesino from it’s original four sizes to include a Robusto, Toro, a selection of Belicosos and a very special Pyramid that is rolled with an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper that is very unique in it’s flavor as well as its fine smoking characteristics. Montesino cigars, like all other premium handmade cigars produced by the Fuente Family, use only the finest vintage tobaccos that are aged for exceptionally long periods of time. The result is a full flavored, yet smooth cigar that has won wide acceptance with cigar enthusiasts in both the United States and Europe. Once you light up and relax with a Montesino, you’ll discover a cigar that will satisfy your expectations every time. That’s the Fuente family’s promise to you.

Country: Dominican Republic
Length/Ring: 5 x 50
Shape: Robusto
Wrapper: Maduro
Strength: Medium (Buy Now)

Pre-light: The Montesino has a rough maduro wrapper that does not have that shine to it like you find on many others. It looks dull with no oils. The veins have a map look to them, the cap is small and you can see the line from it like it curls ever so slightly. This cigar has a little color variation and is bumpy. I feel no soft spots at all. The band is loose to the touch so there should be no issues getting it off. The smell is that sweet maduro tobacco and the draw is cool mint. I thought I would have a problem with the cut since the cap was so small and rustic looking but I didn’t. The cheap cutter I carry with me on the road had no trouble making a nice cut.

The burn: The burn is good on this smoke, I have never had a bad burning Montesino cigar. I would call it normal for a good cigar, not perfect but well in the area of acceptable. The salt and pepper ash lasted the first third before it landed on my keyboard ! Okay I deserved it, I should not have been jerking around with a ash over an inch. You get plenty of smoke but I do not notice much flavor.

Click on image to expand.

The taste: Besides from the maduro wrapper I didn’t taste much the first half. Mild? Yes, Good? Yes, Exciting? No. I did pick up a little citrus once and some leather but nothing jumping out.

Over all: This is not an exciting cigar but it is good. The smoke has a pleasant aroma that floats around the room. I think the Montesino maduro would be a good smoke for newbie smokers that want to venture into the maduro lines but want to start off slow. I would pick more of these up if they were a little cheaper, there are better $4 maduros out to be had. I’m sure I will have more but I will mostly stick with the natural line.

What others are saying:

• Users at To25 users give this cigar a 7 out of 10.

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