Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo des Dieux

Ever since I started smoking cigars I`ve always been curious about the Hoyo -brand. I think they have pretty good selection of premium cigars and the glorious band with golden, red and white colors looks tempting. I have tried the Epicure no. 2 and Epicure Especial which were exactly the right choice to my taste buds. I think they have a lot of sweet familiar flavors that many smokers can easily relate to.
This particular cigar, "The Hoyo of the Gods" , is commonly supposed to be the most flavorful cigar of the line so it would had been outrageous not to try it;) I`ve also heard that these sticks need some age so let`s go and see what the divine fuzz is all about!

Brand: Hoyo de Monterrey
Type: Le Hoyo des Dieux
Vitola: corona grande
Size: 6"/155x42
Origin: Cuba
Box code: STA ABR 10





Appearance/construction (4 points)

The band in gorgeous! I think it is maybe the nicest of all regular Cuban cigar bands. I`m not sure if it`s only me but I`ve always thought that longer and thinner cigars look more expensive and sophisticated than a robusto for example, not to mention those 7"x70 "jawbreakers". The wrapper is nicely tanned as it should be because hey, IT`S CUBA! All right, enough joking.. There are some veins which are very visible on the wrapper the cigar feels very delicate. Triple cap seems to be OK and this stick is well packed. It`s toasting time folks!

Flavor (3,5 points)

1/3: This Hoyo starts with a smooth, creamy flavor and the smoke is very thick and white. At the same time I feel my lips very oily and the start couldn`t be better. As the cigar goes on I find it very hard to taste even one actual flavor. After a minute of struggling there`s toasted tobacco, earthiness and very light milk-coffee notes. Very odd Hoyo to my palate.

2/3: The cream and the oil is totally gone leaving a dry mouthfeel. Personally I don`t enjoy cigars that makes you want to drink water all the time.. This cigar isn`t as sweet as I thought it would be. The earthiness takes the leading role in this second part of the "Dante`s divine comedy" while the coffee went to the backstage. There is also a little bit of pepper on the palate. This cigar is hard to rate, is it too divine for a hippie?

3/3: I really wanna like this cigar but the last third gives nothing but dry earthiness, toasted tobacco and a hint of black coffee. All good flavors but together they create kind of a boring flavor profile.


Smoking experience (3 points)

I had a lot of problems with the burn. The line was uneven almost all the time so I had touch it up 5-8 times and relight it twice. It`s very common if especially Cuban cigar needs a flame during the smoke but with that amount it affects to the flavor. Actually it had little bit of harshness and bitterness to it but I`m sure it`s because of the aforementioned dilemmas.

I`ve heard a lot of good things about aged Hoyo des Dieux cigars but I`m not sure what is the recommended time to let them age. It had a lot of character but flavors were "hidden". Maybe this one was just too young to be enjoyed. Not a divine experience but not bad either!




Quality-price ratio (3 points)

You can get this Hoyo on 10-11 euros a piece from the Europe so a box is affordable especially when it comes to ageing these. Unfortunately the age wasn`t a magic word to this cigar, yet..

El Rey del Mundo Lonsdale

I remember the year 1998 vividly, especially my birthday. It was a crispy morning in April when I woke up and remembered the big day. "YEEEIII, it`s my birthday and I`m gonna turn nine today". A couple of months earlier I had bought the coolest thing ever: The Playstation 1. I had played it a lot but I didn`t have any sports games. Back then I tended to play soccer and ice hockey, not anymore;) Anyway I got off the bed and noticed a present on a Playstation. I teared it open and there it was: the NHL -98! Big day;)

I also know one thing that happened in 1998 in the world of Cuban cigars. This particular lonsdale was rolled and it took 16 years to crawl it`s way to my humidor.

Brand: El Rey del Mundo
Vitola: Lonsdale

Size: 6,5"/16,5x42

Origin: Cuba 

Box code: NO-SU-SS-I = OCT 98





Appearance/construction (3,5 points)

The wrapper is pretty dark (nice chocolate) for a Cuban cigar and it isn`t the most beautiful I`ve seen so far. It is pretty thick and reminds me of a brown paper bag. There are some veins here and there and the overlapping of the wrapper is very visible. This little bit of box pressed stick feels very firm in hand and it is well packed. But enough of this judgemental speech, the hippie is here for the flavor!

Flavor (4 points)

1/3: Oh man, sweet mild taste and very complex. This really has that 16 years of age! No harshness at all. My first lonsdale starts with a hint of vanilla and cedar but the main image of the flavor is a smooth creaminess. Double puffing gives more flavor and smoke which is nice because of the tight draw, hopefully it opens up.


2/3: The cigar starts to progress and the flavors have changed. The sweetness is there but there is also light coffee, light leather, coffee, even citrus(?) and double puffing gives surprisingly a little bit of spiciness in the middle of the tongue. The draw is good now after squeezing it between my fingers a couple of times.


3/3: And the progression goes on! More toastiness and some dark bread and a nutty taste to it. The finish is very long and leathery and much more than stronger than the actual flavor after each puff. After the smoke the aftertaste began to remind more of a petrol which isn`t so enjoyable. Very good flavors but I think this vintage might had been even more flavorful maybe couple years earlier.



Smoking experience (5 points)

This was a very unique cigar to smoke because of it`s age and the fact that it was discontinued in 2002 like most of the lonsdales. So if you have wet dreams about purchasing these cigars you really have to look around to find a retailer which might take some time. This was my first El Rey del Mundo and I`m definitely buying more, I`m just not sure if I manage to wait 16 years:)
The cigar itself kept a constant burn needed no attention. The ash was medium gray and held on about an inch at a time.

Quality-price ratio (4,5 points)

I don`t know the price of the cigar because I got it from a friend of mine but I`m sure the ratio is very good with all that flavor! El Rey del Mundo means "the king of the world" and the feeling after smoking this vintage lonsdale was very close to that!




Hippie`s judgement

Appearance/construction: 3,5
Flavor: 4
Smoking experience: 5
Q-P ratio: 4,5

The average: 4,25

The final grade is 4!

Hippie`s flavor profile: 4

http://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/brand.aspx?brand=El_Rey_del_Mundo