Montecristo Brillantes Year of the Dragon

Wrapper: Shiny and dark brown.

Draw: Excellent

Combustion: Perfect

Ash: Light gray compact

Pairing suggestions: An ideal Habano to enjoy with spirits, such as rums and 8-year-old whiskies.

Smoking time: 40 minutes

The Montecristo Brillantes has been released to celebrate the Chinese New Year, in 2024 it marks the Year of the Dragon.  The Montecristo Brillantes Year of the Dragon cigars measure 5 inches in length with a 53 ring gauge, going along with the recent trend of "fat robustos", and has a factory name of Venerables.

Montecristo Brillantes is an exclusive and limited edition that comes in a special box containing 18 Habanos. Each one of them is “Totally handmade with long filler”, after a careful selection of wrapper, filler and binder leaves coming from the Vuelta Abajo zone in the Pinar del Río region.

Unusually for a Montecristo, the Brillantes are packaged in boxes that incorporates a red and gold color scheme. In Chinese culture, red is a color that symbolizes good fortune while the gold accents are meant to symbolize wealth. There is also an NFC feature that allows consumers to learn more about the cigar as wel as verify the box as authentic.

Habanos S.A. debuted the NFC feature in boxes for the Cohiba Siglo de Oro, which celebrated the Year of the Rabbit, that was released last year.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Habanos S.A. has created a cigar for the Chinese lunar calendar:

Romeo y Julieta Maravillas 8 (6 1/10 x 55) — 2020
Hoyo de Monterrey Primaveras (6 7/12 x 48) — 2021
H. Upmann Magnum 52 Year of the Tiger (5 7/8 x 52) — 2022
Cohiba Siglo de Oro 4 1/2 x 54 —2023
Montecristo Brillantes (5 x 53) —2024