Hoyo De Monterrey Excalibur Maduro
I’ve really been digging deep into the bottom of my humidor lately. I didn’t even know I had the cigar up for review tonight. I’ve been holding on to this smoke for at least two years. There is a back story about where this cigar got the name “Excalibur.” But you didn’t come here to read that did you? Instead of researching all of that useless info, I grabbed a glass of water and got to the review.
Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf maduro
Binder: Connecticut broadleaf
Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan, Dominican
Size: 6 3/4 x 47
Price: Around $5.00
Pre-light & Construction:
The first thing I noticed about this cigar was the oily wrapper. It looked great with minimal veins and only a few bumps here and there. The wrapper smelled cedary and earthy, while the foot had a slight peppery component. I found the cigar was pretty hard when squeezing the entire length. The pre-light draw was good, with a dark earthy taste. I let the ash go for about an inch, but I think it would have lasted two. The burn required no corrections. Construction was great.
Flavor:
The first third greeted me with a simple smooth earthy taste. About an inch in, a definite strong coffee or espresso kicked in. The coffee and earthy notes took turns being the dominant flavor. All the while, I found a very subtle peppery spice when passing the smoke through the nose.
The second third opened up a little bit. Coffee notes mixed with earthy flavors that remained dominant. Next in line was a slight pepper, and a very subtle sweetness came into the flavor profile. As I got towards the end of this third, the sweetness developed into a mocha flavor.
The last third was my favorite part of this cigar. The smoke turned to a thick and creamy feel. Strong coffee was the main flavor, and it caused the earthy flavors to go away. The peppery spice changed into a sweet spice that was very much like mocha and cinnamon.
Conclusion:
This was a good medium to upper medium bodied cigar. A lot of the flavors were what I consider “Standard maduro.” But still, overall I enjoyed the entire cigar. I won’t be running out to find more, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone from at least giving the Excalibur a try.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Cigar Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
timm September 16th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Tom – Thanx for the review – I was just given one of these last week…its now on my to do list for THIS weekend.