Montecristo Línea 1935 Dumas Box of 20 (Vintage November 2018, EMS)

Overview

Línea 1935 is Montecristo’s premium line, launched at the 2017 Habanos Festival and named for the year the marca was founded. The Dumas is the smallest of its three vitolas — 130mm × 49 ring gauge — and takes its name, as the brand itself does, from Alexandre Dumas. It is a bespoke format made for this line alone, entirely hand-rolled with long filler from the Vuelta Abajo.

This is a box of 20 in two trays of ten, box-coded UEB NOV 18 — approaching eight years of quiet box age. It carries the orange Hunters & Frankau English Market Selection seal (serial 1633430) on the lid, and the H&F EMS leaflet is still inside with the original cedar sheet. The Habanos Denominación de Origen Protegida warranty band is present across the lid. The box has been opened for inspection and photography; the cigars themselves are untouched.

The EMS mark matters. It is applied only by Hunters & Frankau, the sole UK distributor, to Havanas selected for the British market, and it is the single clearest guarantee of a box’s route from Havana to here. This box is UK duty paid.

Tasting Notes

• Character: Medium to full — richer and more structured than the classic Montecristo line, without losing the house balance.
• Profile: Cocoa and roasted coffee over cedar and sweet leather, with a nutty mid-palate and the long, faintly peppery finish the line is known for. Eight years in the box have rounded the edges considerably.

Format

At 130mm by 49 ring gauge the Dumas sits between a robusto and a petit corona gorda: enough girth to carry a full blend coolly, short enough to stay bright through to the band. Expect around an hour.

Provenance

Box of 20, two trays of ten. Box code UEB NOV 18. English Market Selection — Hunters & Frankau seal serial 1633430, 2021 issue — with the EMS leaflet and original cedar sheet present. Habanos D.O.P. warranty band on the lid. UK duty paid, held in the United Kingdom. Opened for inspection; not a sealed box.