Altadis U.S.A. Inc. has a library of storied cigar brands. Romeo y Julieta. H. Upmann. Montecristo. These are cigars that people have smoked for decades, and while they have large followings the company has made the ambitious move of taking a hard, new look at each of those landmark brands and offering new versions of each.Monte by Montecristo is a remake that harks back to what Altadis did with Romeo y Julieta in 2012 (you might recall a Romeo by Romeo y Julieta earned our No. 3 spot in the Top 25 that year). The box is sleek and modern, with a new take on the Montecristo name. But the real change lies in the cigar itself.Where most Dominican Montecristos are mild, with Connecticut-seed wrappers, Monte by Montecristo Jacopo is blended with Ecuador Havana wrapper, Dominican filler and two binder leaves, one Dominican olor, the other Nicaraguan Corojo.The box-pressed Jacopo (pronounced HAH-coh-poh) No. 2 size was released in 2013. The cigar has plenty of leather and spice on the palate, with a note of chocolate on the finish. It's a delicious new take on a celebrated old cigar brand.

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