San Cristobal - Classico Review

[Airborne RU]

At the Aston Cigars site the Classico size of their new San Cristobal line is labeled as a 5 x 50 robusto. My initial thoughts were that this cigar wasn't a true robusto but rather a hermoso no. 4 (5 x 4. Drawing fine lines I know but that was my initial impression.

Looking over the cigar, a stick that I've had in my possession for about a month in my "dry box," I thought that she looked a bit rustic. A bit rough looking with a band that stood in stark relief to the dark redish tint (obscuro rosado) of the wrapper. Gold and tropical Macaw colors suggested a warm and fresh smoke. The book Blink by Malcom Gladwell noted that the meat company Hormel puts a sprig-of-parsley graphic next to their "Hormel" label to give the impression of freshness. This impression of freshness serves Hormel well as many of their products are tinned meats, which are in danger of tasting well like tinned meats. So looking at the San Cristobal band you can see what Ashton was going for. Gold trim and medals, finery, and a tropical bird, lush fresh and rich flavors being the main impressions. Going further, I kept on thinking merchant ivory colonial days when I looked at the band, but that is probably just me.

Well constructed, though a bit loose on the draw, I thought that the cigar was a bit underfilled (more on that later). Tactilely the cigar was very firm, I find that many NCs to be hardish with little or no give when pressed. Loose draw, slightly underfilled foot appearance, and a hard firmness. The cigar might be comprised of very substantial thick tobacco leaves.

I toasted the foot with my torch and finished the light with a sliver of spanish cedar. The first few puffs were full and produced copious amounts of smoke. The ash looked white and gray, with white being the predominant color. The ash held firm though I didn't think that the ash looked firm, it seemed more fluffy and flaky. I also noted that there weren't very firm and deep striations in the ash as I puffed, more of a smooth build up of ash as I puffed.

Now I should note that I drank some Knob Creek bourbon with this smoke and this may have skewed my tasting. I also should note that I smoked in my garage as it is in the 30s.

The first half of the cigar was very rich and rewarding. I tasted orange peel, raisins, and caramel with a nice back ground of tobacco. My initial thoughts were that this cigar tasted like a Padron Anniversario Maduro. The same richness with perhaps more acid and less spice and coffee.

The second half of the cigar was very much like the first but this time with more tobacco and hints of coffee than the first half. Very complex and in a bare cold garage I found myself totally zoned out to every thing else.

I thought that this is the cigar that Pepin created after smoking a PAM. I imagined he thought to himself "I can improve upon this." I don't know why but that was the constant thought running through my head. Padron Anniversario Maduro 2.0.

The smoke is full bodied and it doesn't skimp on the vitamin N. Near the end I felt it and had to put the smoke down and step outside the garage for a breather. After a short abscence I returned to find the cigar very barely lit, requiring a lot of puffing to get it going, again I think this is due to it being a bit underfilled.

To be totally clear I am very pleased with this smoke. I think its a different kind of smoke from Pepin than we have seen. Heretofore his offerings have been Cubanesqe. Now I think we are seeing a very Nicaraguan smoke from Pepin. He seems to be exploring the NonCuban side of things, exploring the capabilites of a Nicaraguan style of smoke. This leads me to believe that we may see a Cameroon wrapped smoked from Pepin or perhaps smokes with Brazillian tobacco.

I think Ashton did very well for themselves with this smoke, it is easily better than 99% of the stuff you'll find at your local B+M. At the price of around $8 per stick it is a little on the high side. At 6 or 7 bucks I'd give it my highest rating, but at 8 it still rates very well.

[Nabinger16]

Great review on one of my absolute favorite smokes! I'm in love with the San Cristobals. I haven't found any to be under filled as of yet, so it may have just been an anomaly.

Again... Great review!

[CaddoMoney]

Thanks for the in-depth review - I have on waiting in my humi that I'm wanting to try.

[rx2010]

the Maestro in my humi is a stocking stuffer, so I can't light it up until after the 25th
needless to say, I'm looking forward to it

[GHC_Hambone]

Wow, great review! Saw these at the B&M the other day, after reading this I gotta try one now.

[mustang1]

Nice review, I've had the Maestro and was not overly impressed. After reading this I think I'll give them another shot.

[JGIORD]

Nice review thanks,

I'm dying to try one of these. The pictures of them I've seen look great.