San Cristobal (Nic.) Classico

I have to agree with icehog. This was a one dimensional smoke. Not a bad cigar, just not up to the the high bar set by both Ashton and DPG. I love most Don Pepin Cigars including the blue and JJ, Tatuaje, Cabaguan and a big fan of Ashton VSG, ESG, Heritage. This cigar ended where it started. A somewhat dry toasted flavor that lasted throughout. I would recomend countless other cigars over this in this price range.

feel this cigar doesn't live up to the hype. It had a beautiful oily wrapper and the pre-light draw seemed to imply a Nicaraguan sweetness to the tobacco, but I found it to be one-dimensional with a toasty tobacco flavor. I will say the construction was near perfect in both draw and burn, but the flavor left me longing for something a tad more complex.

This was my second San Cristobal, the other being the torpedo which I really enjoyed. Beautiful looking stick with a seamless cap and lightly veined wrapper. Opened with the Pepin spice but this one seemed to be a lot dryer than I remember. Glad I had a drink by my side to keep the palate wet. Flavors were lots of earth and leather with some vanilla on the finish. Burn was ok, needed some help every now and then. Draw was perfect from start to finish. The reason I say to try the larger sizes first is that once you get past the opening spice and start to really settle into the flavor the smoke is nearing the end and some harshness begins to come in. Still a great cigar though and highly recommended.

This was my 3rd S.C. and probably my favorite, although the Guadjiro was really a fun, great smoke/shape. The cigar gave tremendous amounts of smoke and burned perfectly. It had wonderful flavors, although one could argue the Guadjiro was more rich. you definitely taste more filler here which adds a great flavor. This baby got going right from the first light and burned quickly, yet evenly (differing from the dense draw of the longer SC's) with a lot of flavor. definitely worth $8. A beauty to look at as well. Bittersweet Choc. goodness.

For those of you who like myself enjoy and nice full bodied smoke, this bad boy will not disappoint. Lots of smoke, excellent draw, good flavor that only gets better toward the second half of the cigar. Not for a novice smoker, like the VSG Ashton delivers with the San Cristobal line, I have smoked most of the sizes and find the Robusto to be my personal favorite. Next time you see one on the shelf, pick one up its worth the price.

not really up my alley, but this was a very well created cigar. medium-full on the full side, just a little too strong for my preference. complex yet consistent throughout. leather and earth take front stage. no distractions on the part of construction. enjoyable to the end

OK! Here's the thing. I got two samplers on a splurge. The pretty pictures, the glowing tributes, the brand associations finally got me. Good job. The cigars warrant all the accolades that will be certainly be laid at their feet in homage. They will also be reviled as the occasional clinker hits the wrong fan. I smoker two - one being fine and a genuine excellent smoke in every good way. But I had more fun with the clinker I got...driving on a trip to the lake, couldn't wait to try one and pulled out the little Robusto...WOW this smells good...fired up gently while going 65 down I-5 and settled in for my first Pepin Cristobal...then the fun begins...tunnels up one side...corrected...amazing, actual black cherry flavors married to dark chocolate and coffee (I guess the catalog writers really did smoke one of these)...opps, burn correction needed on the other side now...Wow, this is really strong - but deep and powerful flavors keep washing over me...damn, now it's tunneling on the OTHER side...correction #3...my gawd this is a fantastic smoke...oops, another burn correction and slight tunnel simultaneously....and so it went. One of the best tasting cigars I've ever had and even though it had an insane amount of issues with the burn I nubbed it, losing most of my nose hairs in the process. The second one I tried didn't have the same incredible intensity of flavor, behaved very well and wasn't nearly as much fun. I'm thinking that this line is very sensitive to age and to being too fried by over zealous torching...and very, very sensitive to gentle smoking technique. Side streaming seemed to enhance all the sticks in this line. I loved it!

Not sure why but my stick went opposite the prior reviews. It started bitter, got worse, mellowed a bit, then had to be chucked with more than 3" left. Strong cigar, pretty well constructed but needed 1 relight. Will try a different vitola before giving up on it.

Unlike most other Pepin Garcia blends, I didn't find this to be peppery or leathery. Predominantly meaty, with coffee bean and nut notes, and a slightly sweet twist on the finish. The smoke has an oily texture, coating the palate. It's certainly full-flavored, but it smoked with absolute ease. For those who believe DPG is churning out a bunch of taste-alike blends under different names (and I'm not among them, BTW), you really need to check these out. If this San Cristobal is comparable to anything I've had lately, it's probably the Cohiba Maduro Magicos.

I waited on these for 2 months and they where well worth the wait!
I find this to be a full bodied stick with a roller coaster of great tobacco flavors.
Earth tones, nutty and coco.
Try one and see for yourself!!

A silky, oily, dark wrapper with a slight uneven burn. There are flavors of sweet pecan and butterscotch that linger on the palate. I rate the cigar as medium to full body with outstanding complex flavor.

The smoke was smooth and had a spicy start and smoothed out after about the first five minutes. Was given to me a a herf and I loved the cigar. I would consider purchasing the stick again.

Second from a sampler with one cigar of each size San Cristobal. Solid, great looking, spicy and flavorful. Slight burn irregularities, ash going from dark gray to light gray.

Nothing but tha bomb went into this, no doubt. You can tell this is the Don straight from puff one. I mean typical Pepin spice and quality that only he has, not a thing wrong with that though. I think this is the stick Camacho has been trying to make for years. Keep it real Don Pep.

Great cigar. I had a barnyard/Straw prelight smell. The construction was outstanding with the Cuban style triple cap. The cigar had a very good spice with great taste. Firm solid ash that held well. The burn was a little wavy, but still good. The only downside was I felt was it ended early. I give a high value because I was gifted this cigar, and have no price point.

Excellent cigar. This cigar was packed full of interesting and unique flavours such as a nice soft black walnut and a sweet spice on the finish. Smooth and consistant the whole way through, a 'best of 2007'.