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Welcome to Cigar Keep.
Trade Cigars. Smoking Room. Articles & Content.
This site displays content related to tobacco.
Another day and another cigar this time from the street lounge at Tom Tom’s Cigars on Elizabeth street - yes morning review. One of my favourite spots - also happens to be right next to my daughter’s school (very handy). Today is the HDM Especial which I haven’t smoked before. It’s a nice light smoke that definitely is smoother than the No2. It does have a lovely aroma and the draw is perfect. Maybe a little too big for an every day morning cigar, the HDM Petit Robusto holds that spot, but I will be buying a box!
Between all the HYDM Epicure line the is the least favorite for me, I did not like it, maybe the stick I smoked was not stored good.
Against the norm, the Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure Especial is a cigar that I hadn’t actually tried until after several other brands of Cubans had been smoked. As a general rule of thumb, most cigar experts will recommend the HDM Epicure No. 2 or Especial as one of the first cigars that people who are new to the world of Cuban’s should try. Mainly due to the fact that these are considered amongst the lightest of premium Cubans available and therefore much more accepting to someone trying a Cuban for the first time.
Go back several years and you would have found that they were packaged and sold without a band on them but now they are packaged with a gorgeous white and red band with trimmings of gold. My personal opinion is that HDM have done an outstanding job with this and they are one of the prettiest and most striking bands of any Cuban cigar.
The Epicure Especial is indeed a delicate smoke and can be had at more or less any time of the day. Similar in all respects to the very popular Epicure No. 2 except the Especial is slightly longer in length.
They are often described as having a wonderfully fragrant aroma too and I have found that this is certainly the case. Perhaps one of the most aromatic cubans available.
The ones I have tried have all been consistent in construction and appearance with a wonderful sheen on the milk chocolatey coloured wrapper.
They burn reasonably well and impart delicate flavours of fine Spanish cedar in the first third before transitioning to a mild earth and cocoa mix with a slight nuttiness on the retrohale. The tobacco also leaves a faint sweetness on the lips.
Despite being light in strength, I have always found the smoke output to be quite dense with a lovely creamy, velvety texture to it. Not gritty at all.
Definitely a cigar for all levels of experience and one that does benefit from a little age if you can find them or have the time to rest your own.
Always recommended.
I have just bought a box. These reviews are a disaster for my children’s school fee account!
1 year ago
If you haven’t smoked one yet.. don’t! Otherwise the school account will suffer badly!
1 year ago
TheProprietor
Following this excellent review I was lucky enough to find a box of 2008 date Epicure Especials. They are even richer than the younger ones, filled with deep crunchy double cream (like when you pour cream onto vanilla ice cream (have you never done this?)) and still with that snapping tang I like from Hoyo. These cigars do not get the credit they deserve. When mentioned people say ‘oh but I prefer the Number 2’, when in fact, IMHO, these cigars are far more substantial in both size and taste. I also like the fact that they are understated to a degree - but like a Huntsman Agent, perfectly dressed and with powerful hidden skills. I would not like to desert my old friend the Quai d’Orsay 54, but this cigar comes as close to an ADC (All Day Cigar) as it’s possible to be.
1 year ago