First Class at a Bargain Price - Montecristo Cigare des Artes
Written: Apr 08 '02 (Updated Apr 08 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Weight: |
 |
|
| Color: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Excellent construction, medium-bodied, full flavored; slow burning.
Cons: Usually fairly expensive.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended. The smoking experience is full, rich, and and more full-flavored than other Montecristo cigars I've tried in the past year.
|
|
|
| 4-1-1's Full Review: Monte Cristo Cigare des Artes Delacroix |
I ordered these cigars on Thursday morning, April 4, and received them on Saturday, April 6. A 48 hour turnaround from North Carolina to Los Angeles for only $5 shipping. Man, does that ever impress me.
JR Cigars put this super-premium Montecristo Le Cigar des Artes giant on sale at a steep discount. The normal retail price is $132 for a box of 12 cigars ($11.17 each) in the beautiful, blue "Delacroix Royal Chest" (free cigar cutter included). I purchased this one for only $59.95 -- that's only $5 per stick!
I wanted to order this box last January when it was put on post-Christmas holiday sale for about $90. I am happy that I hesitated. Apparently, this beautiful gift-box of cigars has not been a hot seller. JR has over 5000 boxes they advertised on special (sale ends April 10th), and I jumped at this great half-price deal.
These are very special cigars, and maybe the best way to explain what they are is to share the story behind these cigars, as offered by the world's largest cigar dealer. According to JR: "Each year at the annual Retail Tobacco Dealers Convention, cigar manufacturers introduce specialty items made for the Holiday selling season. Then retailers decide which products they think will be attractive to their customers, and load up on these items.
One of the items we went extremely heavy on is a series of three different gift chests of Montecristo Delacroix cigars. All three items consist of 12 extremely expensive, individually tubed Montecristo cigars, and a cigar cutter, within a sensational lacquered box that's made as nice as any humidor and... each box bears a reproduction of a famous Michel Delacroix painting. These are super-premium, medium-bodied cigars that are packed in just about the nicest box you're ever gonna see..."
(To see a picture of this box, see my profile page.)
Montecristo Cigare des Artes
Delacroix Royal Chest ~ Blue Box
This cigar measures 7¼-inches long and has a ring gauge of 52 (52/64ths of an inch in diameter). It's handmade in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and features a medium-brown colored TBN/Sumutran (Besuki Shade Grown Tobacco) wrapper. The binder is from the Dominican Republic. The mastery in this cigar's production comes from its filler blend of specially selected Dominican and Brazilian tobaccos. The smoking experience is full, rich, and and more full-flavored than other Montecristo cigars I've tried in the past year (including the new H2000® line).
These big cigars come double-banded and are sheathed in a thin cedar blanket/sleeve. For the best smoking experience, I offer two tips.
Tip #1: Unroll the cedar blanket and bands from the cigar instead of trying to pull the cigar through the sleeve.
Tip #2: Pull all the cigars from their aluminum tubes and deposit them in a humidor; store at a constant 70ºF temperature and a humidity level around 70-72%. I found these cigars to be a bit on the dry side, so my remaining inventory of my cigars will rest in my humidor through the summer.
Draw: Firm -- a bit of a pull is required.
Burn: Even, slow, solid white-ash cylinder. Expect this cigar to last for at least 90 minutes.
Weight: Medium-bodied, Full-flavored. And this cigar has some heft to it.
Flavor and Finish: Woody, complex almond and oily nut flavors; leathery and lingering finish.
Serving Recommendation: A great cigar to serve with glass of sherry, port, Cognac or an Añejo tequila.
Verdict: 5-stars. What a deal! I'm excited enough that I am now thinking about ordering the Green Chest (6@ 7"x46 / 6@ 7"x50).
Recommended:
Yes
Cigar Name: Montecristo Cigare des Artes (Delacroix Royal Chest version)
Cigar Rating: A must - sensational
Price per cigar ($US): $5 - $11 ea.
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
4-1-1
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Member: Tom Carr
Location: Southern California
Reviews written: 1090
Trusted by: 691 members
About Me:
Go U.S.C.!!!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.