Puros Y Vino Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Montecristo 520 EL 2012 Just around my birthday in June a BOTL managed to get this beauty over to me. Naturally, I had to smoke it ASAP! While not officially released, there are some out in the wild. My friend Enis won one at the LCDH dinner in February 2012. My sample is unbanded which most likely means it came off the bench. Or to some it might mean I'm full of Regardless, here is my review. I hope you enjoy it. Vital stats: Maravillas No.3 55 x 155 (6.1") Robusto Extra Appearance: Smooth, colorado / chocolate brown wrapper. Decent amount of oils on it. Spongy, no hard spots. Slight vein or two otherwise smooth wrapper. Aroma. Clean tobacco, cocoa,earth. Paired with: Villa Sandi Proscecco. (I find any kind of "bubbly" to go fantastically with cigars as they cleanse the palate without ruining the tastebuds) I punched the cigar. Firm draw. Start time 2:40PM EST FIRST THIRD Easy to light. Good draw. Not too loose. Very dark wood flavours. Creaminess coats the tongue. Hint of chocolate. Roasted nut on the finish. Aroma from the smoke is like steak. Toasty tobacco, nice grey ash and near razor like burn. The apple laden Prosecco seems to heighten the toasty tobacco flavours. Slight mineraly taste to the cigar which could be the Prosecco. Bitter chocolate flake taste. So far the punch is working out for me. I usually end up with a tar/sap bubble at the end. Smoking this a bit slow as to not overhead it. Cocoa flavour. Nice heavy earthy tones. Reminiscent of molasses. And for some reason I taste dark rum? A nice tangy taste to the cigar. Dark grey / light grey banded ash. Roasted nut on the palate, mushroom on the nose. Rich chocolate. Toasty tobacco. Almost done 1stt third. Slow burn...very nice nice smooth richness. SECOND THIRDStill nice rich earthy tobacco, some minerals. Ash still on. More cocoa hints. Quite a bit of chocolate on this 2nd third so far. Ash falls off. Too bad it was a good one. A bit flakey it seems. More minerals. Finished Prosecco a while back so it cannot be it. This is a young cigar and it reminds me a bit of the MGE. The MGE really improved over 6-10 months of sleep. The cigar has been medium bodied thus far. Tasty but not strong. Burn needed a correction. Lots of earth. Slight almond notes too. Not too much variation here. Every puff goes to earthy tones to slight bitter chocolate notes. Some nuttiness pops in here and there. Mostly almond and some dry walnut. Lots of toasty tobacco these past few draws. Mineraly finish still present. Getting some leather notes as I near the end of this third. Reminds me a bit of a PSD4. Some very rich tobacco appears. Peppery notes make their presence felt. Still some time to go before this third is over. Dark earthy flavours take over. Almost like coffee grounds without too much coffee left in it. A bit of anisette on the palate. A bit of sweetness appears. This third isn't monotonous after all. Halfway it was..next half, much better. With time this cigar can be a real winner. But its not over yet!! THIRD THIRD Very rich tobacco, some coffee. Very PSD4 like now. Some power in this last third. Not very distracting. No buzz as of yet but you can taste it. Very sneaky pepper undertones. The aroma of the cigar itself is like sauteed mushrooms. A very slight mineral finish mixing in with bitter chocolate is a bonus too. Earlthy flavours persist. Lots of toasty tobacco and toasted nuttiness in this third. Smoking like a champ. Some molasses and nougat make an appearance now. Very rich cigar. Not a nicotine hammer but delicious. More sweet notes on this third. The mineral aspects have tapered off. This is an excellent cigar thus far. The aroma coming off the cigar is intoxicating. Some almond notes pop in for a bit. Slight pepper on the finish. Not too much to say. The cigar at this point is savory and tangy. Two aspects I really enjoy. The strength of the cigar is medium, with some high notes of power but not enough to distract or spin your head. Fantastic blend. I'd love to see what this becomes with some age. Some woodsy flavours. Hmm..some very meaty draws. Steak anyone? The pepper finish has a hint of nutmeg at this point. Hints of honey and molasses these past few draws. Very nice. Hmm...ash fell off/exploded as I lifted it..oh well..still tastes good..the cigar, not the ash. The punch on this cigar worked out well for me. Going to try to do it more often. Almost at the point of nubbing this sucker. Some sweeter chocolate notes now..woodsiness too, some peppery notes with earthy taste finish this off. Great cigar! Loved it! I'd say these are "must try" cigars. You too Ray. CONCLUSION A fine cigar young it should only get better with time. Despite its' youth it had plenty of flavour and was well balanced. This is a meaty cigar. It took me over 2.5 hours to smoke. It reminded me of the MGE due to it's cocoa/chocolate notes. However, the almond nuttiness added a new dimension to the brand. It looks like the rolling of these has been going on for a while. The tobacco is two years old to begin with so by the time they get out the cigar should technically have about three years of age on them and should be ready to smoke. If I had more on hand, I would definitely dive into these sticks often. SCORE: 91 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strada Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Go Frank Go. Now start sending me some reviews for SticksandDrinks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikesupremedunk Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Wow! 55 x 6.1? That is a massive cigar. Thanks for the review! When can we expect the EL 12's to start hitting the shops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Anything similar to the Monte Sublimes.Good review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puros Y Vino Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Anything similar to the Monte Sublimes.Good review. I've only had one Sublime. I can tell you this much. If I use the MGE as a benchmark. I'd say I enjoyed the Sublime slightly less and the 520 slightly more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zigatoh Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Second that on the MGE being better (imo) than the sublimes, looking forward to the 520 now, Monte do a good el it seems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnaube Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 A-ma-zing review man! My mouth is watering. I want some. Can't wait to get my hands on some 520's. Great pictures too. Love the dark brown wrapper. Must have smelled amazing. HmmMmmMmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maverickdrinker Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Wow! 55 x 6.1? That is a massive cigar. Thanks for the review! When can we expect the EL 12's to start hitting the shops? Most likely in late November... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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