Expert: James Yee - 8/6/2009

Question
Hi James,

I must admit I have very little experience smoking with the montecristo brand.   Ive had it twice before and it was quite a while ago.

I recently got a 5 pack of Montecristo #4's and smoked one for the first time today.   I noticed a few different things I wanted to mention

1) When smoking, if you look directly at the ash as if you were looking at the foot.. I saw a bunch of holes in the ash.   So vertical holes in the ash that go parallel with the length of the cigar... I dont think ive ever seen it before and was wondering what it could be.   There were maybe 6 holes, quite big in my opinion

2) Both myself and a friend smoked the montecristo #4 and they both had an uneven burn.   My friends did something weird, about 1cm below the ash, when he drew, a black spot appeared, and burned through and made his cigar burn very uneven.

3) We both had these white marks appear on our cigars.  I inspected both cigars before smoking and they had a very nice wrapper and I did not notice it before.   It was a white mark as if someone with chalk on their fingers had touched it... I believe it became more apparent as we continued to smoke.  You could not wipe it off and it did not look like mold or plume

4) This is the one im most curious about.   When looking at the band compared to one I had a long time ago, the old one was darker in terms of the brown colour.   But the biggest difference was that the old one had raised bumps to line the fleur de lis as well as the circles around it.   The one I just smoked was smooth the entire band.

I dont have much experience with the montecristo so I cannot tell for sure by smoking it.   However, when I smoke something like a cohiba, it is a real treat and I thoroughly enjoy it smoking it all the way to the tip.   This cigar I felt had a bit of a harsh flavour and I was pretty much waiting till it was done.

Based on those 4 points, am I correct to assume these montecristos are fakes?   But im most interested in question #4 as it seems to be a big difference in bands based on the raised printing.

Thanks again for your help James.

Answer
Hi Andy,

Based on your description, it sounds like the cigars are fake because the burn quality of the cigars is really suspicious and bizarre.  The vertical "tunnels" is usually a sign that the cigar is machine-made or the filler tobacco was either improperly bunched by the cigar roller or extremely underfilled.  One "tunnel" in the center of the cigar is somewhat common but I've never heard of or even seen a cigar with 6 of these holes.  That's a truly bizarre phenomenon.  It's possible that the holes could be made by tobacco beetles but it's highly unlikely that 6 beetles left 6 tunnels perfectly parallel with the length of the cigar.  (Beetles are known to take the quickest path to the surface of the cigar by chewing their way out of the sides of the cigar.)

The black spot that eventually burned through the cigar is the result of the cigar having a gap or air pocket in the filler tobacco just beneath the wrapper leaf.  This will burn quicker than the rest of the cigar and cause the cigar to burn unevenly.  When this black spot burns through and leaves a hole, air will bellow the hole and cause an irregular burn.  This can happen with genuine Cuban cigars (but not often) so I wouldn't say that this is definitely a sign that the cigars are fake.  The gaps/air pockets could be make by tobacco beetles leaving a hole in the filler tobacco or the filler tobacco had an air pocket because it was improperly bunched by the cigar roller.

The white "chalk marks" on the cigar is really bizarre.  My only guess is that the tobacco has a high magnesium content and is turning white from the heat of the cigar.  Cigars with almost "bleached white" ash (like cigarette ash) means that the tobacco was grown in soil that has a rich magnesium content.  This is common with some non-Cuban cigars, low quality Cuban cigars and Cuban cigars grown on unbalanced soil.  (If you noticed, the ash on expensive and premium Cuban cigars are usually grey, dark grey or even blue-ish grey in colour because the tobacco was grown on "pure" soil.  It's rarely "chalk white" grey.)

In 2003, Montecristo began using new glossy cigar bands that are not embossed (no raised print).  Between 2003-2006, the Montecristo band was a light "coffee brown" colour and didn't have raised print.  (Before 2003, the bands were printed on non-glossy paper and did not have raised printing at all.)  In 2006, Montecristo began using slightly darker bands ("milk chocolate brown" in colour) and early versions of this band had raised printing but now they don't.

Based on your description, I would say that the cigars are most likely fake.  It's possible that the cigars were genuine and by chance, you had bad ones that were improperly rolled and/or had beetles... but that really seems to be a longshot.

Hopes this helps.  As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James