Hoyo de Monterrey (Honduras, not Cuba) is one of the many General Cigar company labels that produce horrible, tasteless light-shade cigars, but the occasional excellent maduro. The Excalibur maduro is a case in point.
The Hoyo Excaliber Epicure (i.e. robusto) maduro was ranked by Cigar Aficionado as the 7th best of 2007 with a 92 overall rating. While I wouldn't have gone quite so far, it is indeed a satisfying cigar, smooth and nuanced with medium body and complexity. I prefer deeper, stronger smokes and so would not have given it a best-of-the-best rating.
However, its construction, draw and burn are impeccable, and it's got some interesting if somewhat gentle flavor characteristics of wood, leather and something I can only describe as dark salty broth (which may sound disgusting but isn't - go ahead and laugh; I've seen plenty more ridiculous flavor characterizations in the cigar magazines).
In summary: Not the elusive, buy-ten-boxes-immediately flavor gem I was hoping for after reading the Aficionado encomium. But a decent early-day smoke that you won't regret spending full price for at retail ($7.50 in my case). If you shop online it is truly an affordable splurge for the office drone, coming in at $64 per box at Cigars International.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hey there,
Your knowledge and love for cigars caught our attention!
We are just starting but with our love with cigars we have created Kafie Cigars. Quality cigars made in Honduras, for more information please "like" our page! https://www.facebook.com/KafieCigars
Post a Comment