In 2003, Habanos S.A. released one of its multitude of Edición Limitadas, the Montecristo C, a corona gorda with a wrapper aged two years. There’s not much to note, other then that, oddly enough.

Montecristo C Edicion Limitada 2003 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Montecristo C Edición Limitada 2003
  • Country of Origin: Cuba
  • Factory: José Martí
  • Wrapper: Cuba
  • Binder: Cuba
  • Filler: Cuba
  • Size: 5 5/8 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 46
  • Vitola: Corona Gorda
  • Est. Price: $15 (Boxes of 25, $625)
  • Year Released: 2003
  • Number of Cigars Released: N/A

The cigar itself fairly bumpy up and down it’s length, and the wrapper is a rough dark brown color with almost no oil on it at all. The cigar smells of hay, pepper and chocolate and the cap looks great. The first third starts out with the signature Cuban twang that we all know and love, but it did not last long, unfortunately. There is quite a bit of hay flavor, as well as an earthiness that is almost overwhelming. In the background there is some very feint pepper and just a bit of chocolate, which is dark, not sweet.

Montecristo C Edicion Limitada 2003 2 The second third starts out the same as the first, other then the fact that the spice died down quite a bit to almost nothing. Then, I started getting a bit of leather along with the chocolate and earthiness, but not overly much, and the flavors seemed to turn bland.

Montecristo C Edicion Limitada 2003 3 Unfortunately, the last third did not hold any surprises. Flavors stayed constant, the same bland leathery mild earthiness with just a touch of dark chocolate. It did not get hot at the end, but I really did not care.

Montecristo C Edicion Limitada 2003 4Final Notes:

  • The draw was great for the entire smoke, and the burn was fine, especially considering the wind we were dealing with at the time.
  • Final smoking time was one hour and 30 minutes.
72 Overall Score

It has been a while since I have reviewed a cigar with so many differing opinions. All over the internet, this is either one of the best Edición Limitadas Habanos S.A. has ever released, or a very inconsistent loser. Unfortunately, I am going to have to go with the latter. The sample I smoked was annoyingly bland and almost tasteless with flavors, the few that were present anyway, that never even came close to melding into anything. It was not a bad cigar, it had no nasty flavors or anything like that, but honestly, it was barely worth the time it took to smoke it.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.