San Cristobal (Nic.) Maestro

A masterful perfecto, easily a hour and a half cigar; though highly underrated, give them approximately 70% humidity and any issues pertaining to draw will be remedied, in addition to that humidity, the flavors will intensify and be drawn out. For instance initially there's a bouquet of toast and coffee, which then further develops into cedar, leather, mocha, and plenty of rich and sweet spices, finally plateauing at the nub with a touch of pepper, a reoccurence of the initial toast to finish off the cigar. Like I noticed with the Gaujiro, as well as the other S.C.'s, is that tell tale ISOM ash, we've Jose Garcia to thank for that. Though like many vitola's there is the occasional bit of canoeing, though as I've noticed over the years, they all manage to even out on their own, without the assistance of a touch up. Next to the Gaujiro, this is my second favorite San Cristobal.

Very full bodied and complex, nearly overpowering at the start as I was hit with nuts, dough, earth, a cherry sweetness and some pepper all at once. Fortunately the flavors blended better near the middle. A very nice, creamy, burnt cocoa profile developed in the second half. Long spicy finish, and a woody aftertaste stayed with me for a few hours. A strong cigar, but relaxing, paired wonderfully with a tawny port.

This was an OK cigar. It had a very tight draw which produced a nasty green flavor until I re-cut it. Once the draw opened up, things got a lot better, but it still seemed as though this stick would benefit from a year or so in a humodor. I may buy another to try in the future, but based on other reviews, I'll probably try some of the other sizes first.

I only had one...but I can tell you that I want more. Nice earthy flavors with spice, nuts and burnt cherries. The burn was uneven and I did have to correct it one time. The last third was the best because all of the flavors came together. I paired it with a Churchill's Reserve Porto and it was just WONDERFUL!!!

Very strong start, smooths out rapidly with some readily corrected irregularities in the burn. The least enjoyable of the San Cristobal clan so far.

I have had two of these Maestros' and they both exhibited similar charachteristics. The flavors did not develope until the last 1/3 of the cigar and both had burn problems. I AM a fan of the Monumento and the Fabuloso. I would buy those instead. (See my review of the Monumento)