San Cristobal Elegancia

I picked up two of these from my CI CotM club and had them both within about 4 days of each other. To me, these cigars differ in taste drastically based on what you pear with them. This makes them, in essence, a gambled for cigars.

San Cristobal Elegancia 5.0"x54 Robusto

Construction:

This cigar was well put together with a semi-smooth wrapper and nearly invisible seams. Inside is Nicaraguan long-fillers contained by a light Connecticut wrapper leaf from Ecuador. There were no soft spots and had a nice warm, earthy aroma when smelled. This cigar has probably one of the most decorative cigar bands next to Gurkha that I've seen so far.

Smoke:

Once opened, the cold draw showed notes of aged tobacco and raisins, but not as strong as you'd expect from Nicaraguan tobaccos. Once lit, the cigar presented strong peppery flavors. This smoke was dry, not as in falling apart dry, but more like a white wine dry. I found the dryness to been very abrupt and in-your-face, but not bad. This cigar, I found out, pairs better with a darker beer or a porter. The first stick I paired with an IPA and it wasn't very good. The second I paired with a Maple Pecan Porter and it was very good.

Overall it wasn't a bad smoke. I probably wouldn't buy them out right but would smoke them if gifted or received in a sampler. The problem for me is this: sticks should carry their own flavor profile and be enhanced by a specific drink. I'm not a fan of cigars that have drastically different characteristics based on beer, scotch, or coffee selection....it's too much of a gamble, and if you get the combination wrong, you could end up with a bad experience from a potentially tasty cigar.

Keep Smokin!

Mick