I'm kicking it on my patio, enjoying a new Scotch and one of my favorite cigars of this year: the San Cristobal "Monumento" while rocking out to some old punk rock from my youth on Pandora (State of the Union album songs keep coming up-rock out Soulside, Fugazi ,and Ignition!).
Here is what Ashton has to say about this stogie (they produce it):
San Cristobal is a boutique cigar handcrafted in Nicaragua by Jose “Pepin” Garcia. Blended entirely from rich, well-aged Nicaraguan tobaccos, these cigars feature dark, oily Nicaraguan wrappers. The flavors are rich and full-bodied, exhibiting a perfect balance between strength and complexity. Hearty notes of earth, cedar and spices are accompanied by lighter notes of walnuts, espresso, black cherries and dark chocolate. Each cigar is constructed impeccably and finished with a traditional Cuban Triple-Cap. San Cristobal is available in 8 sizes; packaged in cedar chests of 21 and 22.
This stogie looks very sharp-the band is doing most of the heavy lifting here. I love the colorful parrot! The stogie itself is dark and mottled and a rough looking-maybe that's why they went with the nice band! This cigar has the rounded torpedo type tip that I've seen on another Ashton (the VSG?)-and I like that too!
The prelight aroma is earthy and tart-made my mouth water! I lit it up and was immediately hit with a heavy tart/peppery flavor. This flavor lasted half the cigar and then intensified. I didn't taste half the stuff Ashton claims (surprise!) but it's a great cigar. The aroma is full and the plummage is solid as well.
I've smoked about a half a dozen of these dudes and they've all been excellent-some of my favorite Don Pepin Garcias. I think that they retail for around $11, which I know isn't cheap. However some serious quality comes with these and I think that, for a stogie of this size and quality, it's a pretty good deal. I expect to keep one in my humidor for special occasions. For instance, this week my good buddy Seth called-haven't heard from him in a long time. That's good enough to light up for me!
Here I am enjoying this San Cristobal.
Here's a bonus pic of my wife and her new "friend".
3 comments:
When did you adopt a squirrel? And the question on everyone's minds -- how was the new Scotch?
Rock it out, Soulside.
The scotch was okay-reminds me of Laphroaig but doesn't quite hit the "sweet spot" that Laphroaig does. I'll give you some when you come and visit!
Smoking another one of these...really good. Was going to review it when I realized that everything I had said was still true.
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