Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Río Seco Prelight
Hoyo de Monterrey is a historic Cuban marca that was founded all the way back in 1860 by Don José Gener y Batet, a Spanish Immigrant who moved to Cuba. The Rio Seco was introduced in 2018 as a continuation of the Serie Le Hoyo line.
This example is from a 2018 box purchased at a La Casa Del Habano in Mexico City on a recent trip. Being a Cuban puro the blend is made with wrapper, filler, and binder tobacco leaves from Cuba. This cigar is big, the band is big – very big. I do like the band, but not as much as some of Hoyo’s classic ones. The wrapper seems to be of quality, with some small veins, and is very well rolled. A punch cut showed a perfectly snug draw, which is surprising given the ring gauge. I would have expected the draw to be much looser. The notes on the cold draw were some brown sugar sweetness, and some wet wood. This cigar was dry boxed for ~6 hours before being carefully lit with a single torch lighter.
Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Río Seco First Third
Relatively slow start to the cigar. The tones on the palate are all light roast coffee, some cream, and a touch of cedar. The retrohale is showing cappuccino with a tickle of baking spices. About an inch in there’s a ramp up of vanilla sweetness, and a light leather note. The main tones are now vanilla bean, cream, cedar, and a touch of light roast coffee. Surprisingly the sweetness is continuing to ramp up. Tongue coating sweetness on every draw – very impressive. The sweetness is somewhere between a vanilla syrup, and sugar cane juice. The blend is sweet, but still balanced by the cedar, cream, and baking spices. The palate is sweet, and light, and the retro is woody and spicy – a dynamic, and delicious smoke. At this point smoke texture is creamy, output is exceptional, and the finish is long. Construction has been flawless as well.
Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Río Seco Second Third
The palate is tongue coating sugar cane sweetness, shortbread, and toasted natural tobacco. Tones on the retro are light roasted coffee, cedar, vanilla, and mixed baking spices. I’m still very impressed by the level of sweetness here, especially by how well the blend is balancing it with the toasty, and spicy flavors on the retrohale. Burn line is a bit wavy, and I touched it up to be safe after it ashed. Smoke texture is still thick and creamy, the output is fantastic, and there’s a still a long finish.
Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Río Seco Final Third
The sweetness is still very much present, but has begun to decline gradually. The baking spices have stepped up a bit, especially that ginger tone. Cane sugar sweetness, shortbread, and toasted tobacco on the palate. Cappuccino, cedar, vanilla, ginger, and a mix of baking spices on the retrohale. The blend is almost tasting like a gingersnap cookie here. The flavors past the band continued to dry, with the baking spice, and cedar taking the lead. I put this one down with about an inch left.
Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo de Río Seco Conclusions
I’ve spent most of my time in this hobby bucking the trend of ever growing ring gauges in cigars, but every once in a while a cigar shows up that has me questioning my beliefs. At a 56 ring gauge I had not seriously considered trying the Río Seco until I came across this 2018 example at a LCDH in Mexico City. The flavors were extremely well defined, and that tongue coating sweetness was beyond unique. You’d be very hard pressed to find another blend with that level of sweetness and clarity of flavor. This was one of the more interesting smokes I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. This cigar is by no means cheap. I’m seeing them online for somewhere between $30-$40US, which gives it some very steep competition. While I don’t see myself picking up a box of these, I’m definitely planning to keep a couple singles on hand. I’d recommend this one to someone looking for something sweet, light, and more than a little opulent.
