Back in 2018, Tabacalera USA, the US premium cigar arm of Altadis U.S.A, teamed up with Crowned Heads to introduce a new line of Montecristo cigars. That line was named Ciudad de Musica or in english “City of Music”. Makes sense eh, since the Crowned Heads headquarters is in Music City – Nashville, TN.
I recently picked up a couple of these from Corona Cigars in Orlando, FL and today I offer you my take on the Montecristo Ciudad de Musica.
As are most things Crowned Heads, the Montecristo Ciudad de Musica was manufactured at Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. in Santiago, Dominican Republic, which is Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, Jr’s factory.
After testing numerous blends, the team from Tabacalera USA, Crowned Heads, and Tabacalera La Alianza S.A came up with a final blend described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Habano
- Binder – Nicaraguan
- Filler – Dominican and Nicaraguan
The Montecristo Ciudad de Musica is expressed in 4 vitolas and are packaged in 20-count boxes:
- Corona Gorda (5 5/8 x 46) MSRP $12.85
- Robusto (5 x 50) MSRP $13.25
- Sublime (6 x 54) MSRP $15.85
- Piramide (6 1/8 x 52) MSRP $16.65
For this review, I sampled two of the Montecristo Ciudad de Musica Sublimes which I purchased at Corona Cigars for full retail price. I did note, if you shop around you may find them for a little less but then you need to factor in possible shipping, so I chose to support a local store.
Pre-Light Examination
The Montecristo Ciudad de Musica has the looks of a well constructed cigar with a medium brown wrapper that has a satiny feel to it. The cigar seems to be packed well and has a decent weight in the hand. There are a few veins that are noticeable and a triple cap finishes the head nicely.
A huge black and copper colored band adorns the cigar, and upon close examination, it has a lot to tell. There are three logos on the band, each one using the same structure as the Montecristo logo. The first one is the standard Monetcristo logo. In the center of the band is the Crowned Heads logo, and on the bottom is the brand name Ciudad de Musica along with the initials CDM. One could say they covered all the bases, and if you want to stretch this design a bit more, you could say the initials “CDM” represent the company’s Casa De Montecristo lounges but that is a stretch.
The next order of business was to see what the pre-light aromas were like. I did not pick up much along the barrel but the foot was enticing for sure with fragrant notes of chocolate and peanut.
The pre-light aromas had me wanting to clip and light this one up, but next I needed to give it some cold draw puffs which I did after slicing the cap straight with my double blade cutter. The cold draw had a decent restriction and offered additional intriguing notes of light sweet citrus and a growing pepper.
OK, time to fire it up. I reached for my double flame torch and warmed the foot, bringing it to a even orange glow. The first puffs presented mild pepper and citrus to start. Follow along as I burn the Montecristo Ciudad de Musica to ash.
Cigar Review Notes
- First light graces the palate with pepper and citrus
- The barrel is already getting hot to the touch
- Salt and pepper ash grows on a thin and wavy char line
- Sweetness and malt start to develop
- Wave grows into an off burn that requires a touch-up
- I removed the band, which slid off easy and I noticed that it was double banded (there was a inner velum band that covered the cigar under the outer band)
- As the ash fell – it revealed an off centered burn cone
- Coffee and cream notes find their way into the mix
- Another off burn developed that required another touch-up
- The citrus core begins to intensify on the palate
- Maple syrup aroma fills the air around me
- Dark chocolate notes build through the second third
- Still burning hot to the touch as the smoke is getting hot in the final
- Medium in Strength
- Total Smoking Time was
Overall, the Montecristo Ciudad de Musica would be a pretty fine cigar, if not for the construction issues. Both cigars I sampled had similar burn issues needing multiple touch-ups as the burn wandered off line. Both samples burned hot to the touch early int he journey and delivered a hooter smoke in the final. Both of these are experiences I never like to have from a premium cigar, let alone a $16.00 cigar. I rate this an 84.
Point Deductions: (-1) Off Burn; (-2) Multiple Touch-ups; (-1) Off Centered Burn Cone; (-1) Salt and Pepper Ash; (-2) Burned Hot to the Touch; (-2) Smoke was hot in the final; (-1) Might Try One Again
