Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 Cigar - 1 Single

Date Added: Friday 03 June, 2016 by Staff

Reviewed by Ian Hodgkiss (March 2004)

I received one of these as part of a Seleccion Robusto sampler for Christmas. Having been dragged around the New Year sales (which seem to start earlier each year!!) by my wife, I decided that I needed some serious "quiet time" and settled down to watch the horse racing, after a light lunch, with my Epicure No.2 and a glass of Port. Enough preamble, and down to business.

The first thing to hit you about this cigar is the flawless construction - a dark, chocolaty brown, oily wrapper with wonderful veining, a lovely sheen and a perfectly uniform thickness the whole length of its body. It feels very firm, but has enough "spring" in its feel to negate any worries about problems with the draw. This is a cigar that screams "Smoke me! You won't be disappointed". I clipped the cap with "V" shaped cutter, and there was absolutely no flaking or shredding of the cap. The pre-light draw confirmed that this was a wonderfully constructed example of this vitola, and already I could pick up an enchanting hint of cedar with a sweet edge to it.

Having warmed the foot, I lit the cigar with a match and immediately I was hit with an enormous flavour of cedar and leather, but with a subtle sweetness that remained throughout the entire smoke. I had read previously that Hoyo's are, by their nature, among the milder brands and indeed there was certainly no hint of harshness with this beauty, but you could never accuse it of lacking flavour.

After about the first half inch, the smoke is infused with lovely taste of hazelnuts, followed by coffee, but all the time with that underlying hint of fresh leather and sweet cedar. There was never any hint of bitterness or harshness even though I smoked this down to within its last inch.

The ash is an even dark grey, and stays on forever (I only had to part the ash once during the whole smoke, and that was only because I didn't think it could possibly stay in place any longer), and the burn is slow and even. The cigar did not need relighting once!!. I would rate this cigar as 19 1/2 out of twenty, and it only loses the 1/2 mark because the 55 minutes it lasted wasn't long enough.

I cannot rate this highly enough, and if the rest of the selection is anywhere near as good as this one, I will be a very happy man indeed. I am now actively saving for a box of these. Oh yes, and Tony McCoy one the big chase at Cheltenham - life really doesn't get much better than this!
Great review, we are given point-by point notes on how it tasted as he smoked through it. Gives nice references to the ash, wrapper and a little note on his surroundings and drink. This is what a cigar review should look like.

Reviewed by Michael L
Rating: 8.5/10

This review hit all the bases. Look, feel, pre-light and the experience itself. I could taste that Epi 2 from the words (but I'd rather have the cigar) very good job.

Reviewed by Michael L
Score 9/10

Yes, another lovely review although I personally hate V cutters and would never use one on a robusto nor do I care what colour the ash is as it is immaterial. As before I detect "nuttiness" in a cigar but could never identify it to a particular nut. Call me old fashioned but a Havana cigars usually tastes of tobacco to me(!)

Reviewed by Smokeymo
Rating: 8/10