Hoyo de Monterrey

Le Hoyo Des Dieux (2003)

I got this one in a trade last spring. This badboy is from a cabinet from 2003, making it over a decade old. So here we have an excellent combination: Quality Cuban tobacco + 10 years of age + one of my favorite vitolas, the lonsdale. This should be good.

Statistics

Shape: Parejo







Size: 6 1/8″ x 42







Country of Origin: Cuba

Cuba





Wrapper: Cuban







Binder: Cuban







Filler: Cuban







Color: Maduro

Maduro





Strength: Mild-medium







Price Paid: Trade

Trade





Smoke Date: February 13, 2014

February 13, 2014





Age: 10+ years

Accessories Used

Palio Composite cigar cutter, Silver & Chrome Vector Stratos single-flame torch lighter, Handmade English walnut ashtray made by wedgewoodrings.

Pairing

I wanted to pair this special cigar with a special tea, and because this was a bandless cigar, I went with the absolute prettiest tea packaging I have to make up for it. A Menghai Dayi Zi Yun (“Purple Rhyme”) Shu Pu-ehr mini-cake. This fermented Chinese tea is from 2009, so it’s about half the age of the cigar, but it will have to do! This tea is extremely smooth, rich, and creamy, but not bold at all. This worked perfectly because a stronger tea would have overpowered the delicate flavors of the cigar.

Appearance/Nose

This was a rustic looking cigar, with a blotchy brown wrapper with a few large, prominent veins. There was no band, so that was about it for the edintity of this cigar. The nose was very sweet, like a syrupy honey, with notes of apple and tea. This cigar smelled so sweet, it should be sticky!

Construction

With a traditional Cuban triple-cap, I didn’t notice any construction issues upon inspection. The cigar was firm throughout, and the wrapper felt smooth and dry to the touch. The burn was pretty damn straight the whole time. It did wobble a bit, but nowhere nearly as much as I had expected, given the thick, prominent veins in the wrapper leaf. The ash was flaky, appearing dark gray and black. It held on for about an inch at a time.

Cold Draw

The cold draw was rather tight and had a sweet hay taste to it.

Smoking

First third

The first third began with a bit of honey, some nuts, and a surprisingly bold kick of red pepper. The draw remained a bit on the tight side, but nothing restrictive. After the first few puffs, the honey picked up and the pepper took a back seat. The retrohale revealed a strong honey, caramel, and daisy profile. Delicious! There was a bit of peanut or cashew on the finish.

The smoke production was low-medium, but the flavor was very rich anyway. The floral aspect increased tremendously after the first inch.

After the first ash came off, the stick grew noticeably milder, and it became much harder to pick out individual flavors aside from a faint sweetness. There was still a nice honey finish, but it continued to be rather mild.

At times I was able to pick out a nice grassy note. This was an amazingly slow-burning cigar. About 45 minutes in, and I was still on the first third!

Second third

Amazingly, at the start of the second third, the flavor came back in a big way. Honey and nuts were the order of the day in this section. The pepper was noticeably absent on the retrohale, but there was a sweet, grassy twang that is common to Cuban cigars.

Some coffee and caramel notes crept in alongside the honey and nutty finish. The cigar went out at one point due to me being inattentive (brewing a second pot of tea).

The flavor at this point was at about the medium range, perhaps on the milder side. Grassy, honey, and nutty notes dominated, with no spice.

Final third

Coming into the final third, the draw was still on the tight side, but the flavor was still kicking. Lots of honey and grassy floral notes.

I don’t know what a young one of these would have tasted like, but I wasn’t picking up much of the dry “aged” flavor I noticed in a few other older cigars.

The burn did get a bit wonky towards the end and I touched it up. A bit of coffee came out again in the nub, as one last surprise.

Notes

Draw: Medium-tight

Medium-tight





Body: Mild-medium

Mild-medium





Primary Flavors: Honey, grass, nuts

Honey, grass, nuts





Smoke Output: Low-Medium

Low-Medium





Smoke Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Overall

I would have never guessed this cigar was a decade old if I didn’t know beforehand. It definitely had a very “Cuban” taste to it. It was sweet and smooth, and pretty well-built, if not pretty. I guess I’m superficial, but the lack of band did bother me a bit, partially because I like to use the band as an orientation point for photos. If would definitely consider picking some more of these up. Then again, I don’t know how good they are when young. In any case, this was a lovely cigar, and the lonsdale vitola is a little treat for me, as it’s one of my favorites and very few cigars seem t come in this vitola anymore (heck, more cigars come as lanceros than lonsdale a these days!)

Rating