Pre-light Experience

Coloring on the Montecristo Dantés Edición Limitada 2016 is incredible, beautiful Colorado coloring, but the cigar is tough in texture, sporting quite a few veins throughout. The triple cap is applied well and it is fairly firm in texture. The aroma on the wrapper is that of fruit and manure with some creamy qualities, and the foot is showing some smokiness, salted wood, manure and stone fruit.

Pre-light Experience

The Montecristo Dantés Edición Limitada 2016 has the primary new style gold and brown Montecristo band, along with the secondary ‘Edición Limitada 2016’ band. The wrapper is much darker than typical Cuban wrapper tobacco. Soft pressed veins are present throughout, along with occasional lumpy spots. There are small pieces of tobacco sticking out from the end of the foot. Nosing the cigar produces aromas of spice, cedar, leather, with sweet cedar in the foot.

First Third

The first third opens up by delivering some salted wood notes, classic Habanos in my opinion, and with that is some smoky and creamy qualities. I am getting a faint sweetness to the cigar which is quite lovely, and there are some hazelnut qualities with that. I would classify the Habanos as being medium to medium-full in body and strength, and it has a lovely draw.

First Third

The first third opens with sweet cream and a leather chaser that leads into the post draw. The creaminess is intensified through the retrohale with a nutty flavor underneath at light minus. As the cigar settles in, dry cedar establishes itself. That leather chaser evolves into a light plus lingering leather on the post draw, with sweetness building on the retrohale. At the 25 minute mark, mild chocolate comes through, as cedar joins the post draw, bringing a drying mouthfeel. That mild chocolate harmonizes with the sweetness to carry into the middle third.

Second Third

I am in the second third of the cigar now and it is showing that smokiness with salted wood. There are some cafe mocha qualities and with that is some peppery spice, leather and earth. There is a faint mushroom quality and it has a creamy and sweet finish.

Second Third

The cedar and chocolate flavors harmonize here. Baking spices join the retrohale at a mild level, with nuttiness underneath them at light plus. I’m feeling a surprising amount of nicotine strength already. The bottom half of the second third sees some honey sweetness come through.

Final Third

I am in the final third now and the cigar is delivering that lovely sweetness from before. The smokiness, creamy and mocha profile is still present, and the mushroom flavor profile is as well with some earthy and wood notes. The finish has cherry and fruitiness to it, and it is a great finish. The cigar continues to smoke at a medium to medium-full level in terms of body and strength, and the draw is very cool.

Final Third

There is a toasted earth during the transition from the middle to final third. Once the cigar has settled into the last third, the flavor profile is defined by wood flavors, finishing with a toasted earth and occasional bitterness.

Burn

The burn on the cigar was terrible; not going to lie. With that being said, it was easily corrected. Of course, that was happening all the time. Aside from that, the cigar produced a dark charcoal ash that held on well throughout the cigar. If it had burned perfectly, I imagine the ash would have held on throughout each third, but that was not the case.

Burn

The burn is wavy through the first third, with a re-light in the middle third, and a re-light in the last third. Ash held on well, up to 2 inch increments.

Draw

In terms of draw, the cigar had a great draw from start to finish. Perfect level of resistance in my opinion, and it offered a slow smoking experience on the cigar and a cool one at that.

Overall

If the construction on this Habanos was perfect, the score would have been higher. With that being said, the flavor profile was quite enjoyable and there is a part of me that thinks that is the most important aspect of any cigar. Transitioning was terrific from start to finish and the flavor profile possessed depth and complexity. The Montecristo Dantés Edición Limitada 2016 is not a Habanos I would gravitate to more often than not, I prefer regular production Montecristo offerings to this, but a very solid release. I would recommend this Habanos to those who have the opportunity to purchase some, and I think many would find that they smoke well in a couple years. I look forward to see how it smokes in years to come.

Draw

The draw is 2 notches into the resistant spectrum.

Overall

The Montecristo Dantés Edición Limitada 2016 presented as an oddity at the time I picked it up. A readily available EL, with a wrapper that was several shades darker than anything else on the market. With such a reasonable price, I picked up several boxes and have been pulling them out every 6 months or so to see how the flavor has been progressing. The initial performance was fairly average, with none of the complexities of this most recent review experience. Unfortunately, the tight draw I experienced has been present on most of the samples I’ve reviewed, but overall the flavor experience was enjoyable.

Seth Geise

SCORE

6.87

Cost/Point

N/A

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

6.32

Cost/Point

N/A

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: Montecristo Dantés Edición Limitada 2016