I received a couple of really fine cigars from Cigars City last week, one of which is the Montecristo Platinum Belicoso. More on this wonderful smoke in a minute, but first a small history lesson.

Montecristo cigars were established in 1935 based on the book “The Count of Monte Cristo” written by Alexandre Dumas which was a favorite book to be read to the cigar rollers as they worked. Interesting.

The Montecristo no. 4 is the most popular cigar in the world market. In 1992 the Montecristo no. 2 was listed as one of the 5 most sought after cigars by cigar mavens.

Now onto the Montecristo Platinum Belicoso.

A belicoso cigar is a stick of 5 1/2 inches with a ring gauge of 52. A cigar of this size will take from 45 minutes to an hour to smoke and enjoy.

The Montecristo Platinum series has a tri-nation filler with tobacco from Nicaragua, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. The binder comes from The Dominican Republic, and the wrapper from the San Andres Valley in Mexico.

The cigar presents itself with a slightly oily wrapper. The wrapper is almost seamless it is been rolled so well. The smell of the cigar is leather and oak. The taste of it unlit is the same with an under tone of nuts.

I used a wooden match to first toast the foot of the cigar before drawing the flame. The first taste was again of leather, oak and surprisingly enough toast. As in a piece of toasted bread. Very surprising and very pleasant.

The draw on this cigar was amazing. Very even, with a rich and creamy smoke. I am not one to see how long I can keep my ash on, but I smoked a good 3 inches of this cigar before I knocked the ash off. This is one very impressively rolled cigar.

I was out on my patio enjoying this cigar with a nice glass of chardonnay for an hour. The Montecristo kept its flame with my having to re-light it. I didn’t have to purge it as it got closer to the band, and I am one of those smokers who takes the band off and smokes it until my fingers burn. There was no accumulation of tannins that I could taste. This cigar remained pleasant to the end.

The Montecristo Platinum cigar is a medium to full bodied cigar. It is not for a new cigar smoker. It is for a smoker who is ready to move from the mild, and mild to medium cigars. That being said, it is an excellent smoke. Not a daily smoke for most pocketbooks, but a good one for a golf weekend, or a special cook out.