Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez Churchill Review

Buy the Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez at Famous Smoke Shop

• Size: 7″ x 50 (Churchill)
• MSRP: $122.50 (box of 10); $12.50 for a single
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Mexican San Andreas
• Filler: Nicaraguan, U.S., Honduran
• Body: Medium
• Strength: Medium
• Humidor Time Prior to Review: 3 months
• Cigars Smoked Prior to Review: 2
• Source: Purchased with Personal Funds
• Date Smoked: October 27, 2018

On the docket for today as the Montecristo Crafted by A.J.Fernandez. A.J. seems to have his hand in a couple of blends for Montecristo, but this one is exclusive to J.R. Cigars. It should surprise you to learn I picked these up for a song a few months ago when Serious Cigars, a subsidary of J.R., had a serious sale. I’ve smoked on a couple of these, and am in the mood to smoke a bigger cigar so that’s why I picked it out.

Appearance and Pre-Light Aromas

The first thing to note is this cigar is covered in cigar bands. That’s pretty obvious. I snap a photo for posterity and shuck off the foot band and the big body band to reveal a beautiful box pressed stick with a redish brown wrapper. Seams are visible, but tight and uniform. There are veins, but they are minimal. I happen to think the back side of the cigar is the show side, but whatever.

The wrapper itself is slightly toothy with a light sheen.

Smelling the wrapper yields barn yard and cedar aromas. From the foot I get cinnamon, cloves, earth, and cedar.

I clip the cap with my Xicar cutters and take a test draw. Cold cream, sweet tobacco, and cedar. I get to toasting and light up. Start time is 2:23 P.M.

First Third

The first draw or two is pepper with hits of generic wood and cedar.

The cigar settles in after a few puffs. Right off the bat it’s full bodied and complex. I’m hit by a wall of flavor. It reminds me of the New World, but a sweeter cedar heavy profile. I’m getting pepper, cream, lots of wood, sweet tobacco, baking spices, nuts, chocolate, and coffee. Through the nose I get pepper and some citrus. It’s a kitchen sink blend that assaults your palate. In a good way. It’s clear Montecristo gave AJ the reigns to do his thing.

The cigar seems to be smoking quickly. Less than 10 minutes in and half an inch of compact gray ash is forming. Smoke output is plentiful, the burn line is good, but not razor sharp, and I’m enjoying what the Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez has to offer.

We are getting some transitions here. The flavors have darkened somewhat. Earth and coffee ground the profile.

Unfortunately I bang the cigar against my chair as I sit down. It’s amateur hour, but what else is new? It doesn’t seem to phase the cigar.

In other news, it’s a beautiful day in Southwest Florida. Cloudy, but plenty of sun and blue skies, a stiff breeze and the temperature is around 79. Finally, after months of unrelenting heat. Great stuff.

That cedar I smelled on the pre-light has definitely made it into the blend itself. It’s a cedar heavy profile, but it melds nicely with the other flavors. Right now I’m getting lots of cedar and chocolate. An odd combination on paper, but it works, providing an aromatic chocolately experience.

In fact, the kitchen sink of flavors seems to have calmed down. We are down to a medium full bodied cigar. That’s OK with me. My feeble palate can only process so much. Currently I’m getting pepper, cedar, generic wood, coffee, and dark chocolate.

Overhead I hear the chirp of an Osprey. Haven’t heard that in a while. Nice to know the Osprey are back. It appears to be a day of firsts.

We seem to be cruising through this thing. Barely 20 minutes and we are approaching the end of the first third. Crazy for a 7″ stick. It didn’t feel lightly packed.

Second Third

Smoke time is right at 25 minutes.

The burn continues to be mostly even and trouble free. I haven’t had to touch it up yet. An inch or so of ash fell easily into my ash tray.

The flavors continue to be rich. A little cream, pepper, earth, wood, coffee, chocolate, and sweet tobacco that I could confuse for raisin. Pretty basic flavors but they are smooth and enjoyable. The retrohale is mostly pepper, but it isn’t a crazy amount of pepper. I’d say 5 out of 10. Easy to retrohale. I’m also getting some sweetness on the retrohale as well.

I bask in the balmy breeze and enjoy my cigar. Life is good. We had a busy morning volunteering for “Make a Difference Day”, laying mulch in a local park. When I got home I mowed, edged, and blew off the yard. After a shower and a light lunch I’m here relaxing before we go out to 2 parties. An unusually full social calendar.

Body continues to be a medium full. I haven’t noticed much strength yet. Construction continues to be good. The ash tumbled to the ground when I tried to snap a photograph.

Not much to update you on in the flavor department. This cigar is burning crazy fast. I decide to slow down my smoking cadence slightly to see if we can coax some nuance out of the cigar. I will add that the cigar is smoking cool. I can hold it near the burn line with no problem.

I’m beginning to feel the effects of some nicotine. I’m relaxed, calm, and a little tired. All that yard work may finally be catching up to me.

The Final Third

Smoke time is around 50 minutes. Like I said, we are cruising through this one. It’s pretty good. Nothing mind altering in the flavor or transitions departments, but nothing to complain about either.

Lets provide a flavor update: Coffee has ticked up. That’s our biggest flavor at this point. The supporting flavors are pepper, cedar, chocolate, and a faint sweetness. The retrohale is mostly coffee with some cedar, earth, and light lingering black pepper. So the flavors have switched around a little, but nothing crazy.

The smoking characteristics continue to be top notch. A relatively even burn. I tip an inch or so of ash into the ash tray.

The earthy qualities of the cigar have stepped up. That’s at the forefront of my palate now. Coffee, wood, and dark chocolate all lend supporting roles. Cedar remains, but is mostly on the retrohale at the moment.

The burn is slightly ragged after knocking off the ash. I give the high spot the slightest correction and the cigar immediately goes to work evening out the burn. Beautiful.

We are getting close to the band. I will take one final photograph before peeling it off.

The band comes off without a hitch. While I think the 2 secondary bands are entirely unnecessary and a little silly, I do like the primary band. It’s thick embossed paper. Simple and elegant. Don’t tell the Montecristo marketing department, but I would have been fine if the cigar came with just the single band.

We have less than 2 inches of cigar left and a new flavor has emerged: a pungent leather. Always a nice treat, especially towards the end of a mostly consistent cigar. I get leather on both the draw and retrohale. It’s the biggest flavor now. A couple puffs later and now coffee and dark chocolate are vying for first fiddle.

A few minutes later and a prune like sweetness is now present and accounted for. Transitions are happening, but the core flavors remain.

With a little over an inch left I notice the flavors begin to muddle. Leather is the strongest component, and it dominates the cigar as I take it down to the nub.

I feel good as I reach the nub. The perfect amount of strength for me. The cigar smoked cool and clean throughout.

Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez Review – Final Thoughts

This has been a nice cigar. First of all, it has burned great. Near perfect in my book. Maybe not as elegant of a burner as an Oliva Serie V Melanio, but I could have left my lighter on the table throughout the entire smoke and been just fine. That’s always nice to see. And it burned quick and cool. I set aside 2 hours for this cigar, and only needed 1 hour and 30 minutes.

What keeps me from giving this cigar top honors is the flavor profile. It’s fine, but nothing earth shattering. I prefer both the Man O’ War and the New World. The New World is a kick in the pants from first light to nub, and I love the complexity, transitions, and overall experience found in the Man O’ War. This cigar is good, but a little more staid. A potent start and a leathery end, but pretty consistent medium plus stick through the bulk of the cigar. While A.J.’s blending characteristics are present, it is evident he also exercised some restraint. In that sense he stayed true to the classic Montecristo brand while giving it a touch of zazz.

I wouldn’t pay anything near the $12 full retail for this cigar, but then again I don’t pay full retail for pretty much any of the cigars I smoke.

Final Score: 3.5 / 5 or a “1” on my 0-2 scale. I’d smoke it again, but I wouldn’t call it box worthy.

Final Smoke time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

I recommend purchasing the Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez at Famous Smoke Shop. Please consider that purchasing things through any of the links on this website, including Amazon.com, helps support the website and keeps it going. Any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.