San Cristobal

With my girlfriend off on vacation for a week with her friend, I had the chance to do another Humidor first. So even though I took the day off on Friday, I still woke up bright and early so I could have my first breakfast cigar. That's right folks, they aren't just for after dinner anymore.

So this morning I pulled a San Cristobal out of my humidor, poured myself a Breakfast Stout (Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout, made with real Colombian Coffee.) and headed out to the porch.

San Cristobal is a line from Ashton cigars (I know I rated an Ashton stick pretty low on this blog but let's see what else the brand has to offer). The wrapper, binder, and fillers are all made in Nicaragua. The cigar is a very deep brown with a dry but smooth wrapper. The size I have is called a Fabulosa. It's a pyramid shaped cigar 6 1/2 inches in length with a 52 ring. Cost was $11.

The cut is smooth but right after, I notice that the tip seems to be packed a little too tight. This could be bad news for the draw. Also, it take a while to get the cigar fully lit. This obviously has a little to do with the large foot but it's still somewhat annoying.

First taste is immediately some spice and coffee. I think I might have gotten lucky and picked something that goes great with this stout. The first few puffs release some rather intense flavors and are certainly bolder than one would typically smoke for a morning cigar but I guess it will wake me up quicker.

Unfortunately, the draw to start is disappointingly tight. it affects the fullness so I don't get nearly as much smoke as I would like. I read somewhere that pinching the cigar a few times can help to loosen up a tight pack. I try this and it actually works a little as I get a more full mouth of smoke. I pick up on some really spicy tobacco notes as well some harsh bitter flavors.

While the ash is a beautiful light gray, almost white color, the stick itself could stand to burn a little better. I haven't needed to relight it yet but it's burning very unevenly.

As I work my way down, the bitter tastes seem to pick up in intensity. The roasted coffee flavors I had picked up on to start are gone. In fact, I'm having a hard time picking up on any other flavors right now. Definitely not what I expected up to this point.

After a while, the bitter notes finally start to fade but are only replaced by more harsh biting tastes. This time a burnt tobacco flavor rushes in. At this point, I suspect that the sub par burn may be contributing to the harshness of the taste. I put a match to it again to try to even things out.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes here. I just feel like it's a good time to point out that Josh should start sampling a lot more of Lagunitas Brewery. The cigar may not be pulling it's weight right now. But this stout is delicious. Yes, it's 9am....

The burn is doing a little better and the ash is still on the stick almost at the halfway mark. However, the harshness of the flavors have not improved. Some might argue that I'm just not in the mood for a bold cigar right now (you know, considering it's 9:00 am) but I'd disagree. There is no spiciness to this smoke at all which is usually a primary characteristic of a full bodied cigar. The flavors here aren't overpowering, they are just harsh. Think cutting into a ribeye, but getting a charred flavor. Not really what you were hoping for.

The ash finally falls of at almost 3 inches, but it doesn't happen cleanly. It leaves behind a poorly lit, poorly burning, bitter, charred cigar. I am not pleased right now. Where's my delicious stout?

The cigar calms down a little toward the end developing some slightly mild earthy tones. They are nothing to write home about and since the draw has been getting progressively worse throughout the stick, I'm not really able to enjoy anything anyway. Sure, the draw improves slightly when I try that pinching technique but quite frankly I shouldn't have to do that. You don't expect to have to remix your drink before every sip do you?

The cigar finishes off with a horrible draw as I manage to get a few last puffs of boring earthy flavors. I even put this one down with another 2 inches still to go. I don't anticipate anything worthwhile developing.

This definitely was not a breakfast of Champions. Maybe if the flavors from the first couple of puffs had stuck around a little longer, I could have at least rated this as smokeable. But this one was just plan bad. Uneven burn, tight draw, biting flavors, high price, it all adds up to a lousy cigar. Stupid Parrot.

Overall Rating: 59