Oh look, yet another Connecticut shade-grown cigar hailing from Ecuador. It looks nice, but naw... it's probably really bland and built for beginners.

Thoughts such as these are what keep solid shade-grown cigars from getting the respect that they deserve. You can have a lighter-looking cigar and still get loads of depth and complexity out of it.

Montecristo's "White Series" exemplifies this point of view perfectly. For it takes a very mild, tangy Connecticut shade-grown wrapper, and slaps some surprisingly vibrant 3-year-old long-filler leaves inside.

The result? A mild-medium Montecristo that exudes just as much character as it does cleanliness and class.  

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Unlit Impressions 

Yawn away all day at the bland branding, and beautiful, but utterly unexciting wrapper of this cigar. That's to be expected. 

But smell the foot of the cigar and you're going to get a nice little surprise, as cedar, spiced tangerine peels, and a pleasant pop of white pepper come out to play. There's an intriguing depth to the smell of those aged filler leaves and that Nicaraguan binder that keeps you sniffing for more and makes you want to taste it all.

Oh, and taste-wise, you'll get all of that I just mentioned, plus a pleasant sweetness of light sugarcane, and some tannin notes as well.



Initial Smoke

Milder than a milk bath on a spring eve, the start to the Montecristo "White Series" is as tame as it comes. There's a touch of that tangy tangerine peel in there, along with a faint almond milk taste, and some freshly whipped cream to keep it all together. A very pleasant beginning, but also the most uninteresting area of the cigar by far.

1st Half

It doesn't take long for this cigar to shift from mildly unmemorable to medium-bodied and Nicaraguan-based. Those aged internals really do impart some roundness to this blend's mouthfeel and overall presence.

Nutty, with dried cedar shavings and a bit of white pepper keeping the tingles alive along the length of the palate, the first half hour of this stick is sure to surprise and impress. 

2nd Half

2nd Half

Take it easy, and puff slowly, and you'll be rewarded with some toasted and salted nut tastes before too long with this blend. It starts off all cashew and almond, but toward the center of the cigar, it all goes walnut on you. 

Medium-bodied, but still light in flavor, those baking spices from the unlit end arrive at the opportune time to layer atop those walnut notes. Cinnamon and nutmeg flip-flop from nose to palate, while an oak stave tannin dryness keeps things crisp, and you feeling thirsty for that nearby beverage.  

Parting Puffs 

The tail-end of this stick provides a nice surprise. As it's very much a medium cigar by this point, tastes tend to skew more toward light leather and sun-grown tobacco spice than mild Connecticut. There's very little char or off-tastes to be detected either, which is a bit of a rarity to find in Connecticut shade-grown wrapped cigars.

Ash / Burn / Smoke / Draw

If you are a lover of round, milky cigar smoke, then the Montecristo "White Series" is likely going to be your sort of stick. In fact, the smoke production and draw on these cigars proved to be so prominent, that I found myself punching my review stogie, just to control the flow of the damn thing a bit.

As for construction, every stick I smoked in the 5-pack that was sent to me was a little bit loosely packed, almost to the point of feeling underfilled. Soft spots were also notable on three of the five sticks. And while I thought that this looseness may have been attributed to the overly fluid draw I had experienced, the last stick was notably tighter than the first few, the draw was just as all-out as the others. 

Another issue was heat, with every stick smoked burning quite hot, even when puffed as slowly as humanly possible. However, the ash, burn line, and combustion of each cigar smoked were impeccable and impressive, so massive props to Montecristo for that portion of the review.

Final Thoughts

I found myself liking the Montecristo "White Series" more than I thought I would. It's by no means a perfect cigar, for it does run a bit dry (and hot) for my taste, but that doesn't mean it isn't ideal for other people.

The shorter, "Rothchilde" vitola is also a nice selling point for this smoke, especially in summer, when a seemingly harmless cigar-smoking session can result in a heat stroke. Hence me hitting the river that day for my review...

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