Purchased: 2 singles Monarchy (6.5 X 56 box-pressed Toro Grande)
Store: West Coast Cigars
Price: $27.95
Buy Again: Yes
Box Worthy: Yes, but it might be a bit too pricey for a box.
Experience Rating: 99
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a comfy seat at West Coast Cigars lounge, chatting as I normally do with one of the owners, Father Bob. He’s a former priest in my diocese and it has always been great to talk about cigars and Catholicism and church and diocesan and general politics. As we were discussing the impending California Unflavored Tobacco List , out of the blue, Father Bob said, “We get a lot of different cigars in here, but that Noblesse – and I don’t say this lightly – comes about as close to a perfect cigar as I’ve ever had.”
I of course raised my eyebrows and replied, “Yeah? That’s a pretty big claim coming from you. Why is that?”
He simply said, “It’s hard to explain, but that is one of the best cigars I’ve ever had.”
I must admit that I took that with a grain of salt because Father Bob has suggested sticks to me in the past that were absolute duds to me. But there was something about the passion that Father Bob spoke of this cigar that got me thinking. So, after I finished the cigar I was smoking, I took a bit of a break, then went into the humidor and got a couple. But my palate by then was ruined, so I just put them in my travel humi to smoke later. So, I waited about a week to smoke the first one, then another three weeks to smoke this one on New Years Day.
Okay… so is it perfect? No, but as Father Bob put it, it’s damn close to it, hence the 99 I gave it. The only reason it doesn’t get 100 is the draw. It’s just a little snug for me and a couple of pokes with my PerfecDraw only improved it slightly. But the rest is amazing. Normally I wouldn’t dock points for a snug draw because it usually loosens up. But the draw has been snug throughout the smoke so I docked it for that. Otherwise, the rest of the cigar has been perfect.
Construction is awesome. The wrapper is smooth with barely visible seams and just a few veins. The cigar is packed tight which would explain the tight draw. And the burn has been razor straight, only requiring a single touch-up because a bit of a breeze picked up.
As for the flavor profile, this is one of the most complex cigars I’ve smoked this year. There’s a base of roasted nuts, cream, sweet dark chocolate, molasses, burnt sugar, and just a touch of citrus. The cream isn’t just a component. It’s creamy the entire way!
As the cigar progresses, it’s a dance of a plethora of shifting flavors on top of the base such as baking spices, floral notes, dark coffee, rich earth, purple yam, sourdough toast, Kewpie mayo, teriyaki beef, celery sticks with cream cheese. I know, some eclectic flavors, but it’s pretty amazing.
The sweet spot for this cigar has been just past the second half for me. This is when a light red pepper spice kicks in to act as a foil to the rest of the profile. This completes the profile. By the final third, the profile is set and just gets more intense down to the nub.
All that said, despite how much I love this cigar, it’s a little disappointing that this cigar is as expensive as it is. This by far is the most expensive cigar in the LADC lineup. I get that it’s a limited edition, but the brand has been known as representing My Father’s mid-level cigar lines. This was one of the reasons I raised my eyebrows when Father Bob suggested this cigar. I saw it in the humidor when I was looking for a cigar to smoke and skipped over it because of its price and my knowledge that it was coming from LADC.
I will probably buy a five-pack or two so I have these around. Though I deemed it box-worthy, realistically, that would be stretch. But going forward, I will definitely have a few of these in my humidor!
Total smoke time: 2 hours 15 minutes.
Update 2/2/2026 – I bought a couple more after I wrote this review, but I was able to score an entire box with the recent JR Cigars stackable coupon sale. I’m a happy man!
I’m smoking one as I write this and the word that comes to mind with this cigar is aristocratic. To me, this cigar is a patrician; it has that “it” factor that draws people in from its refinement and elevated stature. It’s no wonder LADC called it the Noblesse and gave each vitola a noble title. And the Monarchy is the patrician of the line. I loved the Regency. It was the first vitola that I tried. But after having the Monarchy, it is the ideal for me.
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