Obviously Montecristo didn't gain their favor over nothing... Cuban Montecristos have garnered countless awards, fame and popularity over the years because virtually every aspect of their cigars was impecable. This is predominantly true of the legendary #2 Torpedo -- Notorious for being the hands-down knock-out torpedo of all torpedos. Naturally the same can NOT be said about the Dominican line -- typical of most Habanos manufacturers who opt for a Dominican line for marketing in the U.S. (in light of the embargo). Without going in to the blatant and obvious degredation of Cuban cigar quality (yes folks, I've written volumes about this in my countless other cigar reviews = please visit them too

http://www.epinions.com/user-nick1326

Anyhow, without getting into a tangent about how recent Cubans have dissapointed the hell out of nearly everyone, it is still fair to say that sadly, the Dominican line, while of decent quality, is nothing to write home about. The entire Cigars Des Artes line in my opinion is an overpriced, nicely packaged overrated cigar line, just leaning on the excellent past reputation of a name (Montecristo Havana).

The Corona Gigante does live up to its name, Gigante. With a 52 ring gauge, standing 6 1/2 inches long, this one has "short baseball bat" written all over it, and because of its fatter ring gauge, DOES have some power behind its flavor, however I wouldn't recomend that you expect too much based on the price NOR the Monte name...this is a decent cigar, nothing more nothing less...At over 10 dollars a stick, I think it is very fair to say you can find many better things to spend you hard earned bucks on, BUT perhaps this cigar MAY be worth a try, particularly if you prefer medium bodied mid-flavor cigars without any exotic twists.

The gigante (a one-step-further version of a corona gorda (fat corona)) tends to burn very hot. Understand that Montecristo Dominicana is owned by Altadis, a true multi-faceted powerhouse of an organization in the cigar world...they are essentially a miniature version of what RJ Reynolds is to cigarettes only they are in cigars. For the record, they also own other Dominicana line names: Partagás, Cohiba, La Gloria Cubana, H. Upmann to name a few of many. DO bear in mind, while Altadis has successfully blown away other competition, gaining a MASSIVE 27% of the entire cigar market, their cigars typically fall well short of spectacular and tend to remain "good decent cigars." The same is true of the Cigars Des Artes line, except they are priced quite beyond what they really offer - my main objection to them in fact.

The Corona Gigante is jacketed in the "new" H2000 wrapper. It looks and smells great, but due to a lackluster blend of Dominican filler and binder, they flavor, while quite potent at times, is hardly balanced and doesn't really offer any delecate nuances of anything special - just woody tobacco, AND it turns sour half-way through because of how hot it burns. THis is a medium bodied cigar, and the main flavor consists of a cedary charry woody flavor, touches of eathiness come out here and there, but otherwise nothing very exotic at all. The ash is firm, like the draw, and the smoke tends to be a bit "loose" - hard to explain, but in short, very much the opposite of creamy, kind of scattered and not very concentrated. I've smoked a good handful of these cigars (I split a box with a close friend) I haven't been able (or perhaps willing is the better term) to smoke any further than two-thirds because the cigar simply boils over and becomes very unpleasant... If you smoke patiently and try to keep it cool, the first 2/3s ARE pleasant however. Overall I am not very impressed with this cigar, nor this entire line.

The Corona Gigante is another overpriced, nicely packaged thorn in Montecristos side. I can appreciate that Altadis is trying nice new things with Monte (the Kilimanjaro, the serie V etc) However since Montecristo Habanas has already tarnished its own reputation (like most other Habanos rollers) I just can't seem to understand why Altadis would risk tarnishing it's own reputation of the Montecristo product, introducing an overpriced mediocre cigar seems to do exactly that, at least for me anyway. I wouldn't recomend this cigar unless you have alot of money and nothnig to do OR just want to be outgoing and give this one a try.



Recommended: No

Cigar Name: Montecristo Cigars Des Artes Corona Gignate
Cigar Rating: Smokeable
Price per cigar ($US): 10.60