While up in Minneapolis trying to find a Excalibur 1066, I ran across a new cigar by Ashton called the San Cristobal. Ashton has 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. I had the unfortunate pleasure of smoking this fine cigar as I witnessed the destruction of my beloved Notre Dame at the hands of Michigan.

The San Cristobal is blended entirely from rich and delicious Nicaraguan tobaccos, this cigar features a dark, oily Nicaraguan wrappers. The flavor is rich and full-bodied, exhibiting notes of earth and cedar.  Each cigar is well constructed and finished with a traditional Cuban Triple-Cap.  I smoked the Clasico which measures 5 x 50. The cigar maintained an even burn and easy draw. For a while I thought I was smoking a VSG. These two cigars are very similar in size and appearance. The San Cristobal is a great alternative to the over priced and hard to find VSG. However, the San Cristobal is not cheap either. I paid $14 for this smoke at the over priced Stogies on Grand. With that said, you can find this smoke for about $8 a stick or $157 for the cedar chest of 22. If you can find them at eight bucks, buy a bunch. They are well worth it and a must try!

After much consideration, I would say that this is one of the top five cigars that I smoked this year. Therefore, it is a Golden Monkey Award Winner! Find one; Buy one; Fire one Up! You will not be disappointed. Voted one of the top cigars of 2007, if you disagree please visit the Monkey Forum at let me know which were your favorite cigars this year.


MonkeyDan Rating: 94