San Cristobal Elegancia is a spectacular new cigar which recently debuted at the annual cigar trade show in Las Vegas. Handmade in Nicaragua by the Garcia family, San Cristobal Elegancia is a medium-bodied cigar featuring a golden-blonde, Connecticut-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador and a Picasso-like assemblage of the finest aged Nicaraguan tobaccos. This delightful cigar sets itself apart from other Garcia-made gems because the typical peppery-spice takes a backseat to an elysian creamy, earthy melange that'll reward your palate. (from the Ashton Cigars site)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
When Aston came out with the San Cristobal a few years ago it was an immediate hit. This new version is also made by Don Pepin Garcia. The one thing you immediately notice is the light Connecticut wrapper.
Video review HERE.
The cigar is dense and triple capped.
One thing you notice immediately is the light wrapper. This cigar utilizes an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and filler. The test draw was effortless. The initial flavors at light up were wood, coffee, and pepper. I let the cigar sit for a minute to allow the flavors to develop.
About one half inch in the flavors settled down into grapefruit citrus with some sweetness, wood, and coffee. The pepper is pretty decent. The finish is vanilla and some lingering pepper. This cigar has a light feel to it already. It would be considered mild at this point.
A little past the one inch point the grapefruit citrus has changed to a sweet cedar and vanilla with some coffee base. This cigar is not as peppery as you would expect from Pepin. The finish is a creamy vanilla with lingering pepper. The ash is tight and salt and pepper in color. There is some richness trying to develop but it's a minor amount.
As I finished the first third the cedar notes are very good and the vanilla notes accentuate it. The coffee notes are still good and the wood notes are still there. The finish is a creamy vanilla with some wood notes and lingering pepper. The cigar remains mild and it's working it's way to mild to medium.
Well into the second third and the cedar notes are richer. The vanilla notes have decreased but the coffee and wood notes are still bottoming it out. The cigar has moved into the medium bodied range.
As I finished the second third of the cigar the cedar notes still have some richness with the coffee and wood finishing up the flavors. The finish now has some cedar notes combining with the vanilla. The cigar continues to be medium bodied.
As the cigar ended the cedar notes really came out along with the coffee. The wood notes pretty much disappeared. The finish is still one of cedar and vanilla with lingering pepper. This cigar was nice but too mild for me. The changes were not big enough to make significant impressions. I tried to not compare this cigar to the original San Cristobal as it is a different cigar altogether. A lot of manufacturers have gone to a Connecticut version of their cigars and this attempt fell short for me.
Score: 87
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