The Velvet Cigar

Posted By ironmeden on September 21, 2007

Finally a warm September evening to enjoy a cigar outside. Aside from the gusty winds and potential storms coming this way, I had to take advantage of the evening to smoke another new cigar.

I recently acquired the San Cristobal from a local retailer. Rich Lewis who owns a tobacco store in downtown Minneapolis was very generous to give me this cigar he obtained from the RTDA. His website for the shoppe is at http://www.lewispipe.com/

I went to his shoppe a few weeks ago and chatted with him regarding our idea to take over the world. His primary business is making pipes. When you go to his website he has many unique pipes that he has produced over the years. He makes just gorgeous looking pipes, I was really impressed with his craftsmanship. If your a pipe smoker, I highly recommend sending him an email and getting more information.

Now onto my review of the wonderful cigar.

The texture of the cigar is solid, but there were quite a number of vein’s sticking out from the wrapper. There was one that was quite long which ran from the bottom of the band to the foot of the cigar. It was quite dark like someone took a faint highlighter and traced along the ridge of the vein. The wrapper is dark with a slight tint of redness.

The band is attractive, but there was too much going on with it. I’m not sure what the significance of a parrot having two medallions hanging from it’s beak means.

I made a punch hole to the head of the cigar and lit it up. From the start this cigar is rich in flavor. The smoke filled my mouth and I knew it would be a great cigar.

The size I smoked was the Supremo which is 6×50.

The ash is white and as I smoked it it burned a little uneven, but I think that was due to the high winds in the area. Usually when I smoke a cigar outside and its windy, the cigar tends to burn uneven.

I can’t say enough about this cigar, but at the same time I don’t know what to say without repeating what was written at their website, so I’ll let them do the talking:

Enter San Cristobal! This is Ashton’s biggest and most important product release in many years. San Cristobal is a name that we have had registered and trademarked here in the United States since the mid-1980’s. We have wanted to come out with this brand for quite some time. However, it was important for us to wait until we had the right cigar, as well as the right cigar manufacturer for the job.

Our Product Development team has been working long and hard on this project for the past 2 years. We have been working hand-in-hand in Nicaragua with Jose “Pepin” Garcia. For those of you unfamiliar, Pepin is a rising star in the cigar industry. He is a Cuban expatriate with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the art of cigar making. Pepin ran cigar production in Cuba for 30 years before departing for the U.S. in 2002. Now he is in Nicaragua making some of the finest cigars in the world today. We are extremely confident that our newfound partnership with Pepin will turn out to be a long and prosperous one.

The cigar itself turned out to be a dream come true! We truly could not be happier with the finished product! Blended entirely from rich and delicious Nicaraguan tobaccos, these cigars feature dark, oily Nicaraguan wrappers. The flavor is 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 and dark chocolate. Each cigar is constructed impeccably and finished with a traditional Cuban Triple-Cap
I didn’t get any spicy notes while smoking it, it was just smooth and a pleasant cigar to smoke. This cigar made my mouth water throughout. When I get a cigar thats juicy and gets my saliva glands on tilt, in my opinion I know I have a great cigar.

The triple cap came off about 3/4 of the way through, but at that point I wanted more flavor to come through.

As the cigar ended, I didn’t want it to end. I wanted to smoke another one right now! I have been an Ashton fan from the start of my cigar smoking hobby and this one just adds to the legacy of Ashton.

If you want a cigar rich in flavor this is your cigar. I recommend this cigar highly.

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Categories: Cigar Indulgence, Nicaragua
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