Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 1 Cigar - Cabinet of 50

Length: 5 5/8"
Ring Gauge: 46 
Strength: Light
Packaging: Cabinet of 50 Cigars 

Hoyo de Monterrey owes its origin to the town of San Juan y Martinez, which lies at the heart of the Vuelta Abajo zone. Here the Hoyo de Monterrey plantation, one of the great Vegas de Primera, can be reached through a gate on the town's main square inscribed "Hoyo de Monterrey. Jose Gener. 1960."

"Hoyo" literally means "hole" and in this case describes the low-lying position of the plantation on the fertile banks of San Juan y Martinez river.  Jose Gener, a Spaniard from Tarragona, first used the name of his vega on a brand of Habanos in 1865. 

The flavour of Hoyo de Monterrey's blend makes it an attractive choice for those who seek a delicate yet aromatic Habano that is lighter to the taste but with great elegance and complexity. 

Hoyo de Monterrey was the first brand to introduce a Petit Robusto in 2005, the 50 ring gauge size with a shorter length to suit those who like thicker formats, but do not always have the time to enjoy them.

This is a light to medium bodied cigar, it has an even burn with a very nice draw. It also has lots of earthly flavors, like hazelnut and coffee. A wonderful afternoon smoke.

Reviewed by Austin Dyer

I have smoked a good few of these lovely cigars so I thought I should review one. I spent a nice relaxing afternoon off after my morning run in the noodle bar of a very good Teriyaki restaurant in Liverpool city centre. After a delicious lunch of duck noodles and sake I ordered a coffee and a cigar ash tray then took out my Epicure #1 and clipped the cap. It is one of those cigars I really look forward to, especially as it was a 2002 production from a very good box.

The pre-light aroma was classic, first class Hoyo de Monterrey; sweet floral and vanilla tobacco scents. The cigar was very well rolled as usual, looks good enough to eat, soft to the touch and dressed in a nice dark chocolate wrapper. Once I put flame to leaf and got a nice even burn going the flavours oozed out and made my mouth water, started off fairly mellow and mild, a nice amount of spice to it, tickling my nose then it eased its way to a firm medium flavour and body and losing some of the spice to become creamier. Floral, cocoa, vanilla, brown sugar, very complex and delicious.

These various flavours are present during most of the smoke with some only appearing now and then, teasing your taste buds. The burn was a tad un-even but never caused any real problems, only having to touch it up once and with no affect to the flavour whatsoever. As it burnt down to the nub a touch of coffee and earthy tobacco flavours came to the fore, though soon becoming hot and tarry, then as it reached a very respectable 3/4 of an inch I decided it was time for it to burn out in the ash tray.

These are one of my top 5 cigars and I always save them for a day when I have plenty of time on my hands, after a nice lunch preferably. Very creamy and smooth, unlike the Epicure #2 which is much spicier. Personally I prefer it over the Epi 2. When they are good they are really good, and they age beautifully, however there have been some bad batches so you have to know what you are buying. An outstanding smoke!

Construction: 25/25

Smoking Characteristics: 22/25

Flavour: 25/25

Overall opinion: 24/25

Total: 96/100!

Ok, I definately see that there is a trend in these entries towards setting up the review of the cigar with "where you were and what you were eating". Thats all well and good and may set the mood a bit...but lets get to the "stick". The remaining 75% of the review was more informative and started to perk me up. Sounds like a good smoke to me!

Score: 7/10
Reviewed by: Greg Bos, Southern California

Great work here. Concise and explicit about flavors, all the while honest about being a real fan. Development of flavors was given a nice treatment; the reader has a full sense of how things tasted and how the transition between 1/3 segments evolved. Very nicely done!

Score: 8/10
Reviewed by: John Drabinski

This happens to be one of my favourite cigars and a great smoke. I thought the flavour description was good, but have never noted a "floral" present in this wonderful smoke. This is an earthy, meaty cigar best enjoyed in the evening after a great meal.

Score: 8/10
Reviewed by Joe Mazloom

OVERALL SCORE: 23/30