Montecristo No. 5 House Reserve Aged & Rare 90th Anniversary Special Release

• Length: 102mm
• Gauge: 40
• Flavour: Med-Full
• Cuban
• Aged Since 2015
• Box 134 of 135

Now this one’s a little marvel. The Montecristo No. 5 has always been the quiet gentleman of the range — short, polite, and entirely confident in its own abilities. Just 4 inches long with a 40-ring gauge, it’s the sort of cigar that doesn’t need to announce itself; it simply gets on with the business of being excellent. And in this form — the House Reserve Aged & Rare 90th Anniversary edition — it’s nothing short of remarkable.

Born of the same 1935 Havana workshop where Alonso Menéndez named his cigars after The Count of Monte Cristo, the No. 5 was conceived as the connoisseur’s shorter smoke — a pocket-sized expression of everything that made the brand a legend. For this release, Hunters & Frankau set aside a tiny parcel — just 135 numbered boxes of ten cigars — and gave them the gift of time: more than a decade resting in their House Reserve vault under perfect conditions of humidity and temperature. Each box is “Revisado”-stamped and accompanied by a signed certificate verifying age and provenance.

The result is a cigar of poise and maturity. The youthful Montecristo sharpness has been replaced by a silken depth — cedar, toasted hazelnut, cocoa, and a faint sweetness of dried fruit that speaks of long slumber. The draw is effortless, the burn steady, the aroma refined and nostalgic — like opening an old oak cabinet that’s held good tobacco for generations.

Light it when time is short but standards are high. Or, if you’re wise, tuck it away — because boxes like these don’t surface twice in a lifetime. Ninety years of Montecristo, ten years of patience, and not a leaf out of place.

For collectors, the No. 5 is a jewel: compact, perfectly balanced, and aged long enough to qualify as a piece of living history. The smaller format matures faster, giving astonishing aromatic integration after a decade’s rest. Every detail — the EMS stamp, certificate, and condition of the wrapper — will determine long-term value. Keep them horizontal, sealed, and at ~70 % RH.

You’ll not find a better expression of Montecristo’s discipline in miniature form.