Greetings, I concur that the new Monte band is a slap in the face to the class of the past. I say bring back the old bands of what was, when they were matte thin brown and simple. I never liked the bands they put on the last decade or so as well. It seems they are changing a lot of the bands the last decade on many brands. Whats next? a cigar smoking monkey on a Juan Lopez band. It was always Montes bands were the simplest but the most classy. well deserving of the best of Cuba. They need to stop coming out with new Montes every time you turn around and focus on not reducing sizes from other brands. It is a shame what happened to La Flor De Cano and others like Ramone Allones.