Description
Hoyo de Monterrey – Epicure No. 2
🌍 Origin & Legendary Cuban Heritage
- Brand: Hoyo de Monterrey — one of Cuba’s historic premium cigar marques, celebrated for refined aroma, elegance and beautifully balanced tobacco.
- Established: 1865, giving the marque more than a century and a half of authentic Cuban cigar-making heritage.
- Origin: Cuba 🇨🇺, produced as an authentic Habano under the prestigious Habanos S.A. portfolio.
- Historic Birthplace: Hoyo de Monterrey takes its name directly from the famous Hoyo de Monterrey plantation in San Juan y Martínez, situated in the heart of Cuba’s celebrated Vuelta Abajo tobacco region.
- Tobacco Region: Crafted from tobacco leaves sourced from Vuelta Abajo, Pinar del Río — widely regarded as Cuba’s most prestigious tobacco-growing territory.
- Wrapper: Cuban
- Binder: Cuban
- Filler: Cuban long-filler tobacco
- Construction: Totally handmade with long filler, following traditional Cuban cigar-making methods.
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Brand Philosophy: Hoyo de Monterrey is particularly treasured by smokers who value aroma, finesse, subtle complexity and elegance rather than overpowering strength.
👅 Taste & Flavor Profile
- Opening: Begins gracefully with floral aromas and refined Cuban tobacco, immediately displaying the elegant character for which Hoyo de Monterrey is famous.
- Early Development: Delicate sweetness begins to emerge, accompanied by impressions of honey, nuts and soft earth.
- Middle Third: Becomes beautifully layered with notes reminiscent of cinnamon, toasted nuts, leather and gentle baking spice.
- Sweet Character: One of the Epicure No. 2’s most attractive traits is its recurring combination of natural tobacco sweetness, honey-like richness and nutty complexity.
- Additional Nuance: Different well-aged examples have shown impressions of coffee, graham cracker, molasses, peanut, nutmeg, cedar and cream.
- Finish: Typically warm and toasty, leaving behind a satisfying mixture of nuts, spice, earth and subtle sweetness.
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Overall Flavor Experience: A sophisticated Cuban Robusto that emphasizes balance, aroma and layered complexity rather than brute power.
💨 Smoke Characteristics
- Strength: Medium according to Cigar Aficionado, offering enough substance for experienced smokers while remaining refined and exceptionally approachable.
- Brand Strength Style: Habanos officially characterizes the Hoyo de Monterrey marque as having a generally lighter, delicate blend distinguished by aroma, elegance and complexity.
- Body: Medium-bodied and highly nuanced, demonstrating that sophistication does not require overwhelming strength.
- Smoke Texture: Smooth and aromatic, with an appealing balance between creamy sweetness, earth, nuts, leather and gentle spice.
- Burn: Highly rated examples have demonstrated a slow, cool and even burn, helping the cigar reveal its flavors gradually.
- Draw: Cigar Aficionado has praised examples for an open, even draw that supports excellent smoke production.
- Smoking Time: Approximately 45–65 minutes, depending on pace and smoking conditions.
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Ideal Occasion: Particularly enjoyable with morning coffee, during an afternoon break, on the patio or after a meal when a cigar of elegance rather than excessive strength is desired.
📏 Format & Dimensions
- Vitola: Robusto
- Factory Vitola: Robustos
- Length: 4 7/8 inches / approximately 124 mm
- Ring Gauge: 50
- Diameter: Approximately 19.8 mm
- Shape: Classic Parejo Robusto
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Country: Cuba
- Packaging: Price per Cigar
- Tobacco: Cuban wrapper, binder and filler
- Format Advantage: The classic 50-ring gauge provides an excellent balance of filler and wrapper tobacco, producing generous smoke volume while preserving the delicate complexity of the blend.
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Robusto Appeal: Its 4 7/8 × 50 dimensions make it substantial enough for a luxurious smoking session while remaining convenient enough for regular enjoyment.
🏆 Cigar Aficionado Ratings & Recognition
- Most Recent Published Rating as of September 2026: ⭐ 91 Points – December 2025
- 2024 Rating: ⭐ 91 Points – June 2024
- 2023 Rating: ⭐ 93 Points – June 2023
- 2021 Rating: ⭐ 93 Points
- Top 25 Recognition: 🏅 Named No. 9 Cigar of the Year in Cigar Aficionado’s Top 25 Cigars of 2016, earning an impressive 93-point score.
- 2024 Tasting Character: Cigar Aficionado highlighted floral opening notes, cinnamon and sweetness layered over leather and earth, praising the cigar as balanced and excellent.
- 2023 Tasting Character: A highly rated example displayed an inviting nut-and-honey sweetness accented by nutmeg before progressing to a warm, toasted finish.
- 2021 Tasting Character: Cigar Aficionado found complex notes of coffee, graham cracker, molasses and peanut layered over a nutty and floral core.
- Aged Cigar Performance: A specially reviewed 2015 Epicure No. 2, tasted after approximately ten years of aging, received an extraordinary 98-point assessment in Cigar Aficionado’s Connoisseur’s Corner — illustrating the remarkable potential of properly stored examples.
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Consistent Excellence: Repeated 90+ point performances across numerous years demonstrate why the Epicure No. 2 has earned such a loyal following among Cuban cigar enthusiasts.
✨ Why the Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 Stands Out
- Authentic Cuban Heritage: A genuine Habano from a historic marque whose roots reach directly back to the legendary Vuelta Abajo tobacco plantations of 1865.
- Repeated 90+ Point Ratings: Consistent recognition from Cigar Aficionado reinforces the Epicure No. 2’s longstanding reputation for quality, complexity and refinement.
- Top 10 Cigar of the Year: Its No. 9 placement in Cigar Aficionado’s 2016 Top 25 places the Epicure No. 2 among the most respected Cuban Robustos of its generation.
- Beautifully Layered Flavor: Combines honey, toasted nuts, cinnamon, leather, earth, coffee and gentle sweetness into an elegant, evolving profile.
- The Quintessential Cuban Robusto: Cigar Aficionado has described the Epicure No. 2 as a compelling candidate for the title of quintessential Cuban Robusto — an extraordinary endorsement of its stature.
- Complex Without Being Overpowering: A cigar that demonstrates how depth, richness and sophistication can exist without excessive strength.
- Classic 50-Ring Gauge: The traditional Robusto dimensions deliver generous smoke volume and an excellent balance between wrapper influence and the Cuban long-filler blend.
- Ideal for Both New and Experienced Habano Smokers: Approachable enough for someone exploring premium Cuban cigars while offering enough depth and refinement for a seasoned connoisseur.
- Outstanding Aging Potential: Properly humidified examples can develop beautifully over time, with an aged Epicure No. 2 receiving an exceptional 98-point Connoisseur’s Corner assessment.
- Aroma as Important as Strength: Hoyo de Monterrey is famous for emphasizing delicacy, fragrance and elegance, creating a beautifully aromatic experience for smokers who appreciate nuance.
- Prestigious Humidor Essential: The combination of Cuban provenance, classic Robusto dimensions, historic reputation and repeated critical acclaim makes the Epicure No. 2 an exceptionally desirable addition to a serious humidor.
- Elegant Cuban Luxury: For customers looking for a cigar that emphasizes refinement, balance and sophisticated Cuban flavor rather than sheer power, the Epicure No. 2 is an exceptional choice.
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