Smoked: San Cristobal Quintessence

This 5.5 x 50 Quintessence Robusto by San Cristobal was a new cigar/blend for me. What an excellent cigar! Although it started out with a semi-tight draw and slightly wonky burn line, neither of which presented a problem, the cigar soon corrected itself without any need for a draw tool or a touch-up from my lighter.

Flavor notes included coffee, cedar, baking spices, mild pepper, and some unique flavors I simply could not identify. Whatever those elusive flavors were, they perfectly melded with the others to create pure deliciousness and, with its slightly toothy, yet smooth-to-the-touch Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, a delightfully aromatic, wife-approved room note. The mild pepper’s presence was initially noted upon spark-up, and then shifted to mainly to the surprisingly smooth retrohale throughout the entirety of the smoke. Overall smoothness with creamy, abundant smoke production made this one savory medium bodied/medium-full strength cigar.

Except for the slight tightness and slight wonkiness in the first third, which I would rate construction-wise as a 4.5, it’s otherwise 5’s for appearance, flavor, body, and overall scoring. And, what a beautiful band!

I’m glad I have a couple more to enjoy sometime in the future. I hope you all have a nice weekend. Cheers!