The finer things

Hoyo De Monterrey — Río Seco astonsofmanchester.co.uk

RRP £55

Hoyo de Río Seco is a 56-ringgauge smoke, making it one of the widest to be found in the standard Habanos portfolio. The Río Seco is the second vitola to be introduced

“The mid-1840s were wretched times. Sheep stealing, highway robbery and burglary were common. It was not safe to go out after dark. If a man stole a sheep he had 14 years’ to the Le Hoyo series after the San Juan. These new vitolas only use seco and ligero leaves in the blend.

The lush draw of this toothy cigar delivers nuanced impressions of cinnamon, nutmeg and oak wood before a sweet, caramel finish. It’s hard for a cigar with such a ring gauge to draw consistently, but I was impressed. A great light smoke. transportation. If hunger made a man go into the woods to get a pheasant, he too would get 14 years.” So begins one of the great Victorian memoirs, with James Hawker’s earliest recollections. ‘Narrow Escapes and Near Things’ are told in a tone that is at once humorous and dramatic, always with the eye of an expert field naturalist.