Stogie Reviews: Don Diego Grandee

I picked up a few Don Diegos at a promotional event run by the regional Altadis rep, and hosted by Cigar Connection in Ballston. The friendly Altadis rep was suggesting to customers that the Don Diego Grandee was a similar cigar to Altadis’ famous Montecristo.

This Domincan cigar’s Connecticut wrapper had a few large veins, but overall was very pleasing to the eye and generally well-constructed. Even after I clipped the head off of this toro-sized stogie with my double guillotine cutter, the it held together flawlessly.

The cigar was easy to light and burned evenly producing a sturdy gray ash. And with the lightest lap of my finger, that ash easily dropped off after collecting for over an inch, again a sign of flawless construction – not unlike the Montecristo it was compared to.

However, when it came to taste, not only was the Don Diego not similar to a Montecristo, it didn’t even play in the same league. Montecristos are a medium to mild cigars with complex flavors. This Don Diego, on the other hand, was completely lacking in complexity and its only flavor was the dull woody taste that was transmitted to me in the form of far-too-hot smoke.

Overall, this cigar was very disappointing. I never gave much weight to claims of this stogie’s similarity to Montecristo, but I still expected it to be worthy of the Altadis name which produces such classic smokes as Romeo y Julieta, Trinidad, Saint Luis Rey, and H Upman.

So given that unfortunate disappointment, I give the Don Diego Grandee a mere two out of five stogies.

-Patrick S