San Cristobal Maestro Review

[boonedoggle]

yeah, I've not had a good SC to date. One of DPs less-than-great blends. Thanks Ashton!

[Kaisersozei]

Back in June, TimButz2 fulfilled my MAW for one of these and it's been resting in my humi at about 63-65% since. This weekend was Homecoming at my kids' high school, so the wife & I sent our youngest two (daughter & stepson) off to their first formal high school dance. [SIZE=1]*sniff*[/SIZE] We treated ourselves to a very nice dinner-date, and when we got home I decided to torch-up the SC as a mini-celebration.

Sorry--no pictures since it was very low-lighting out on my smoking porch, but I thought I'd put up my review. (For some reason, Top25 won't let me enter this, so I'll use their format here instead!)

Appearance: 10
Construction: 8
Flavor: 9
Value: 7
Overall: 9

A dark, oily wrapper with colorful contrasting artwork on the band made for a very exciting presentation. The nipple foot lit easily and I never had any burn issues, although it wasn't entirely straight; the draw started out tight, but opened up after about an inch, putting out tons of heavy smoke. The ash held together tightly, only dropped 3 times in the 2 hours it took for me to smoke this.

This was a very full bodied and complex smoke from the beginning. The first third was nearly overpowering though, as I was hit with nuts, dough, earth, a cherry sweetness and some pepper all at once. It was a kind of "HERE I AM, IN YOUR FACE!" sort of body and taste. I was concerned that I wasn't going to be able to finish. Fortunately the cigar settled down right before the middle, where the flavors blended better.

The second half developed a somewhat creamy, burnt cocoa profile that was very nice. Overall the finish was long and spicy, and a woody aftertaste stayed with me for a few hours. It was definitely a stronger cigar than I'm accustomed to, but it was relaxing not nauseating, and paired wonderfully with a few glasses of tawny port.

From what I've read, it sounds like the other vitolas might be a better smoke in this line. Probably a good "special occasion" cigar for me, but the price is restrictive for anything more routine. I certainly appreciate Tim's generosity in fulfilling this wish!

[Smokin Gator]

I just bought a couple of Guajiros this past weekend. I am going to let them get at least six months of rest before I try one based on your review.

Thanks!

[SMOKESTACK]

Excellent strong cigar!!!!!
Like a Ashotn VSG on steriods!

wish I could afford to buy some more right now.